


A Dream Where the Fallout Lies

by count-to-seventeen (parisienneheart)



Series: Count to Seventeen and Close Your Eyes [1]
Category: Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys (Album), My Chemical Romance
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe – Killjoys, Angst, Danger Days Era, Found Family, Friendship, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Minor Character Death, Non-Graphic Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-18
Updated: 2016-08-19
Packaged: 2018-08-09 14:41:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 23
Words: 108,056
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7805881
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/parisienneheart/pseuds/count-to-seventeen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The story of a girl on the run who crosses paths with the Fabulous Killjoys and joins them to seek justice, peace, and a new life.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> The first part of my "Count To Seventeen" fic series.
> 
> I am crossposting this fic from my tumblr [ count-to-seventeen.tumblr.com](http://count-to-seventeen.tumblr.com) for archiving purposes. And although I would probably never write a first-person POV fic again (since it's generally frowned upon these days lol), I actually think this is a decent piece of work and I'm glad I wrote this story when the Danger Days era was still thriving :)
> 
> As this fic is a few years old and was solely posted on Tumblr in a chapter format, there may be grammatical errors and other small editing opportunities in the writing but I will leave it as is to preserve the original work. Hope whoever decides to read this enjoys it :)
> 
>  
> 
> _Disclaimer: this is a work of fiction and is not affiliated with the individuals the characters are based on and i do not profit from this transformative work_

 

  


 

I won’t be able to outrun them for much longer.

My lungs are starting to burn, my legs feel heavier with each step in the dirt. I’m just barely avoiding tripping over the weeds popping out of the ground, threateningly close to breaking my ankles. _And it’s so hot._

I don’t have a ray gun. I don’t have anything on me. The only reason the Dracs aren’t shooting at me now is so I can be taken to Battery City to pay for the crimes of being a fugitive outlaw. All they have to do now is catch up to me and it will all be over.

But I won’t give up.

I forced myself to keep on running. Even though my dry mouth and throat burned, even though I could feel myself becoming slower with each step.

I won’t surrender. Not after coming this far. Not after all the help and kindness I’ve received.

I chanced a look back, the two Dracs’ hideous masks shaking as they ran toward me. They were tall, and I’m sure I could be picked up with no trouble since I’m so petite.

“Oof!” I let out as I felt my chin hit the gravelly dirt.

It was a mistake to look back for even a second. I scrambled up, scraping my palms in the process, barely making it out of the Dracs’ grasp. I kept running under the high noon sun.

How long had it been now? Twenty minutes? An hour? Or has it only been a few minutes?

My face suddenly turned cold, my hands started to shake, and I could feel my stomach turn inside out. It had been 3 nights since the last time I ate, and I knew adrenaline would only take me so far. I’m going to pass out.

But I can’t! I can’t let them get me! I’d rather die!

I kept running, even though my vision had turned white; I can’t see anything. I can feel every part of my body starting to become numb. If only I could just get to the road, sooner or later, there would be someone to help me. It looks so far away, that black ribbon.

Spit started to leak from my lips; I’m a little thankful I haven’t eaten in so long or else I’d be hurling right now. But the spotty vision is making me regret that thought.

“I can’t go on anymore,” I gasped as I sank to my knees. Maybe I could fight the Dracs. But my whole body feels sluggish, I can’t even feel the ground beneath my legs. I closed my eyes; all my senses seemed to shut off at the same time. Maybe it’s better this way… At least I won’t be able to hear the sound of my death…

I faintly felt the gravel brush against my temple. I guess I had completely collapsed. Funny how that happened without me noticing.

“Looks like we got here just in time.”

“Yeah, barely…”

“Check on her!”

“Is she dead?” I could hear all of this from very far away. It was as if I was underwater.

“No, come on… Don’t die on us after we just ghosted those two Dracs for ya…” I heard the whisper in normal volume now. I think someone found me?

But I couldn’t say anything back. I couldn’t even open my eyes. I just wanted to shut it all off and rest.

“We’ll have to get her help. She looks dehydrated.” The voice was nasal, but pleasant.

I could feel a gust of wind at my face. Was I being carried…? All I could recall was the smell of old leather. And then everything went dark.

 

I woke up feeling the heat that made the sweat on my forehead run to the sides. I slowly opened my eyes and brought a hand up to my forehead to wipe away the sweat. I just saw the blue, slightly orange desert sky above me, as well as a steel canopy of sorts. I turned my head to the left and slightly raised my head to see a man kneeling down next to me.

“Hey, you’re awake!” He said this with a wide little smile. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone look as weird as this guy. He had scarlet hair that was stringy and a little long, with bangs running over his face. His teeth were small and jagged; it made him look like a child when he smiled. He’s wearing a rather spiffy looking blue leather jacket. Was that what I smelled?

I must have stared for a while because his smile dropped and his eyes got darker as he asked, “Are you okay?”

Oh, the many ways I could answer that question, considering the fact that I’m a lone fugitive and I have no idea what comes each day. But…considering the circumstances, I was doing pretty good now that I wasn’t being chased to death anymore.

“Um…yeah,” I answered in a raspy voice. I cleared my dry throat and it painfully scratched my windpipe. “I’m okay now.”

A small smile curved on the man’s lips again. He was kneeling down with a leather-gloved hand on his knee, as if he were a doctor visiting a pediatric patient. It made me feel ridiculous, so I sat up quickly.

But in doing so, I didn’t realize that I didn’t have much supporting me other than a thin plank of wood as an excuse for a bench. I nearly flipped myself face down on the ground. _Nearly._ Thanks, of course, to the red-headed savior, who had somehow got up and held me down by the shoulder before I could fall.

I breathed a laugh at myself. I could see the red-head’s eyes up close now, and they looked green, green with delight because he was laughing too. Once again, a childish aspect with its high pitch.

“You should slow down. You were passed out when we found you. Dehydrated, most likely. So you shouldn’t push yourself.”

“We?” I asked. I hadn’t realized there was anyone else besides him. But as I got up—slower this time—I saw three guys standing around the bench. They kept a short distance. One was tall, with long, curly brown hair and he was wearing aviator sunglasses. Another one, not as tall, but a bit more intimidating, with a bright red jacket, black sunglasses hiding his face, a flat line that was his serious mouth, with crazy looking hair, brown on the sides with slicked back bleach-blond hair on top. The third was the shortest, with jet black hair almost long enough to reach his shoulders. Along with his baby face, it almost made him look like a girl. He had the brightest smile on his face; it made me want to smile too.

They all smiled and waved at me as I studied them. I turned back to the red-head and asked, “How did you find me?”

“We were lying low in the area just before we saw you and the two Dracs from a distance. But we intercepted them right before they got to ya.”

“And you killed them?” I asked. What a stupid question.

“Toasted,” smirked the shortest one.

I cracked a small smile. I didn’t have to worry anymore—well, for the moment—about the Dracs coming after me. They were the only ones that even knew I was still alive—

“Drink this,” the red-head told me as the blond handed him an aluminum bottle. I could have sworn I saw him almost smile at me.

Water! Or whatever was inside it! It had been so long, I felt my throat grow even drier at the sight of the bottle. I grabbed it from the red-head’s offering hand and quickly opened it.

“Thank you,” I said as I looked at all the Killjoys that saved me.

“You don’t need to thank us; just drink before you wither away for real this time!” the one with curly brown hair told me. He had a surprisingly soft voice.

I didn’t hesitate to start downing the liquid, and it was only after several gulps that I realized that this wasn’t exactly water. I stopped drinking, slightly choking, and asked, “What is this?”

“Replenishment,” the red-haired one told me as he stood up, crossing his arms. “It’s the best we can do out here.”

“Well, it could be worse,” I said with a chuckle. I wasn’t lying. A huge part of me recognized that although this wasn’t that healthy, the rustiness satisfied my taste buds.

As I drank more, I wondered if maybe I should save some. It had been so long since I’ve had anything to ration, and I’m sure these guys weren’t exactly rolling in the dough either. I put down the bottle and twisted the cap closed.

It was at that time that I noticed my surroundings: The sun was already low in the West (how long was I out for?!) and we appeared to be at an abandoned bus stop. It looked old as hell, hence, the rickety skinny benches like the one I was balancing on. Then I noticed that I didn’t have my jacket on anymore. I was just wearing my black v-neck—well, now it was nearly brown with all the dust it had received.

“You should drink more. Dehydration leads to more serious problems, such as diarrhea, kidney failure, death… And from the looks of it, you’ve been starving for a few days. Especially as a Killjoy, you need your strength.”

Everyone, including myself, had stared at the blond who spoke out of nowhere. He had the pleasant nasal voice I heard earlier. It was kind of endearing how much he cared and how much he knew. He looked down quickly after he noticed everyone looking at him.

“I was going to save this for later, or share…” I sheepishly replied.

“You don’t have to do that,” the red-head told me with a kind tone. “Go ahead, drink.”

I opened the bottle again and started to drink. It was a little awkward that they were all still watching me.

At that moment, I felt my hands sting and let go of the bottle again to look at my palms. It was from when I had scrambled to get up after falling: the skin had mostly shredded off and there were dots of dry blood lining the scrapes. I put a hand to my chin, where I remembered landing. Sure enough, skin was peeling from there, too.

“You put up quite a fight against those Draculoids,” the one with curly hair spoke.

“All I did was run. And even then, I couldn’t keep running…” I sulked. I immediately regretted it. I hated letting anyone feel sorry for me, so why was I acting like this?

“Yeah, but you ran ‘til you couldn’t run anymore. We all saw how brave and determined you were,” the small, dark one remarked with a smile.

The blond one was also smiling. I wish I could have names to go along with the faces…

“Thanks,” I answered. Even though I probably didn’t deserve the praise.

My stomach started flaring again. More like it was kicking me for not feeding it.

“I guess it’s about time we introduce ourselves. I’m Party Poison,” the red-head told me with a confident smirk.

“Jet Star.” He was the tall, curly-haired one.

“Kobra Kid,” said the blond one. I almost wanted to laugh at that absurd name.

“And I’m…Fun…Ghoul,” said the shortest one, with a look of embarrassment on his face as he rolled his eyes. Maybe he didn’t like his name? Of course, these were all aliases. Everyone in the Zones had one. Even me.

They all looked at me expectantly. “Oh, well, I’m Stellar—Stellar Jazz.”

Party Poison raised his eyebrows in approval. “Not too shabby.”

Fun Ghoul snorted, “Yeah, if you’re a sax-playing surfer from Malibu.”

I made a crease in my eyebrows. So what if my Killjoy name sounded a bit silly?!

“It’s better than Fun Ghoul,” remarked Kobra Kid. I smiled at him. I’m starting to like everything that comes out of his mouth.

“Shut up!” Fun Ghoul retorted. “Kobra with a ‘K’.” Fun Ghoul giggled at his own remark. Kobra Kid just crossed his arms in response.

“Well, I like it!” Jet Star said with a kind smile.

I felt uncomfortable sitting on the bench while they were all standing, so I swung my legs around the bench and stood up—slowly of course, before anyone had the chance to tell me so.

I felt pain on my knees. Why is it every time you fall in the desert, you bleed? I winced at the pain.

“We checked if anything was broken. But you appear to just be scraped and bruised,” Party Poison told me.

I don’t even want to know how that was accomplished. “Oh, how I miss adrenaline right now,” I remarked.

The Killjoys all chuckled. I was a hit.

“So what are you all doing out here?” I asked. They seemed to know all about what happened to me, but what were they doing out in the middle of nowhere?

“We’re making our way to Battery City,” Party Poison said. My eyes widened. Why would anyone want to go **_to_** Battery City; especially when a lot of us were running away from it? “There’s someone important to us that got taken by Korse, the head of the BL/ind exterminators. We’re going there to get her back.”

How terrible. But how brave they are.

“We know how crazy it sounds, but it’s the only choice we have,” Party Poison concluded. His speech sounded like something out of a movie. Did he often get this serious?

“Don’t worry about us. We can handle any amount of Draculoids, any day!” Jet Star boasted.

“But the real question here is…what is a kid like you doing all the way out here alone? Being chased by Dracs, nonetheless,” Fun Ghoul asked in a way that didn’t really sound like he was asking; more like waiting for me to explain.

I cleared my throat. Thank God it didn’t hurt this time. “They found our hiding place—I was with this older couple about 4 Zones East—and they raided it. Somehow, I was able to get out unseen, I got out alive, but not without getting tailed by a couple of those Dracs.” I paused. “And I’m not a kid!”

Fun Ghoul laughed at the last thing I said. “What, are you like 15?”

“No, I’m 19! I’m already an adult! And you’re not that much older—5 years tops,” I said while crossing my arms.

“Try ten,” Fun Ghoul replied with another giggle.

I laughed, thinking he was joking. But then I noticed the others started laughing at me.

“You-you’re serious?” I asked Fun Ghoul. He nodded smugly. Wow, he really didn’t look older than 24 or 25.

“Ya know, I missed meeting new people. Always the same reaction,” he laughed again. It was a high pitched laugh, not like Party Poison’s; there was something a bit bubbly about it.

 “Well, you can’t all be that old, then,” I addressed the others. They glanced at each other, looking like they were holding in laughs.

“Actually, Fun Ghoul’s the youngest out of all of us,” Party Poison remarked with a giggle.

Seriously?! Was it something in the water or…? And Fun Ghoul was the youngest?

“Anyway, Fun’s right. You’re still pretty young to be out here all on your own. We can take you somewhere safe if you’d like,” Party Poison continued with an empathetic look in his green/hazel eyes.

“Well, if it’s not out of your way…” I said, not looking directly at Party Poison.

He flashed that toothy grin and answered, “Of course it isn’t!”

“Thanks,” I shyly replied.  

The sun started to get brighter; a sure sign that it was going to set soon. I could feel the air already start to cool down, a breeze brushing the hair across my face. I’ll need my jacket soon.

“Hey, where’s my jacket?” I asked.

“It’s in the car. Since you were passed out, we thought it might have been because of the heat so we got you out of the jacket. Don’t worry, we wouldn’t take advantage of _kid_ like you,” Party Poison told me with a smirk. Oh, he may pretend to be all serious, but he’s a joker, alright…

“Wait… You have a car?” I couldn’t entirely contain my excitement. A car! A luxury out in the Zones.

“Yeah, we do! And it’s pretty damn awesome!” Jet Star gushed. “It’s an old Trans-Am that we did a lot of work on…You gotta see it!”

I was about to say something in return when I felt my stomach kick itself in the face again. The nausea came back, and no matter how much I tried not to, I had to grimace at the feeling. Immediately, all four of the guys came closer, encircling me in this ring of concern. Seeing this display of sympathy was almost enough to make the pain go away.

“Do you need to lie down again?” Fun Ghoul asked. He stared at me with big concerned eyes. No joking around this time, either.

“I’m fine. It just feels like my stomach got punched in the face, run over by a truck, and wrung out dry.” I wryly laughed. Maybe I should stop making jokes about almost dying—well, it feels like I’m dying right now.

 “When was the last time you ate?” Jet Star asked me.

“About three nights ago…? I’ve been sort of running and hiding since then. Didn’t exactly have time to get food supplies during the raid.”

They all looked at me like I was some sad, lonely puppy.

“We should have something in the trunk,” Kobra stated as he immediately walked off, towards the car, I suppose.

I raised an eyebrow. He really didn’t want me to get sick or die.

“Kobra’s been really worried about you since we found you. He was convinced you were going to die if we didn’t revive you soon enough. Little worrywart,” Party Poison remarked with a laugh.

“Well, maybe he wouldn’t have got so worried if _Fun Ghoul_ didn’t almost die the same way because he didn’t want to eat meat, a.k.a. the only food we would have for 7 days,” Jet Star said with a reproving glance toward Fun Ghoul.

“Hey man, animal cruelty is no joke. I won’t support it, even if it means starving,” replied the dark-haired, bright-eyed man.

I looked toward Kobra Kid. He looked intent on finding something in the trunk, and came back running with a can and a knife in his hand.

“Here you go. It tastes like shit, but it should keep you from starving.” He cracked open the top with the blade, twisting it around, just like a can-opener. Then he held it out to me in the gentlest manner.

 “Th-thank you…” I answered. I wasn’t used to this. Wow.  All these guys…How could someone be so generous to a stranger? It was so nice, I kind of wanted to cry.

“Mmhmm,” Kobra answered. I wish I could see his eyes. It’s hard to tell his expression when he wears those sunglasses and all I can see is that skinny nose and those lips that rarely move.

I had to eat without a utensil, so I was pretty much downing the crap like it was soda or something. Mmm, soda, how I miss thee…

It was cold, chunky and slimy. And it did taste kind of horrible. Especially considering it was some kind of dog food, but once again, there was something oddly tasty about it. Maybe it was because I had starved for three days…

“Don’t rush. You have to let your body adjust. It hasn’t had food in days, so you need to give it time to settle,” Kobra told me. Was he like a real doctor or something?

“You’re quite the medic today, aren’t ya, Kobra?” Party Poison good-humoredly jeered.

“It’s a common survival tactic to know how to deal with starvation. You should all know that…” Kobra answered.

“Okay…don’t go karate-chopping anyone’s neck now,” Fun Ghoul giggled.

I met gazes with Jet Star (I think, even though he was wearing sunglasses) and we both smiled.

“The sun’s starting to set, so I think we should find camp somewhere soon,” Party Poison announced. The others nodded and turned to go to the car.

“Come on,” Fun Ghoul patted my back as he gently urged me forward to walk with them. It was only then that I noticed he wasn’t as small as he looked. Of course, I’m a whopping five feet, one inch, so it’s easy for anyone to be tall compared to me.

The others turned to me and smiled as they walked forward. Man, I was real lucky. Real lucky that these guys were so nice, and that they were able to kick some Drac ass.

Without any real prompting, my eyes began to drip tears all over my cheeks. I wiped the tears away as quickly as they came. But Fun Ghoul was next to me, so I’m sure he saw. He just looked over at me with those big hazel eyes and squeezed my shoulder.

“It’s alright now. You’re safe with us.”

“I know,” I answered, unable to hush a sniffle.

Fun Ghoul smiled, his lips curving up so vertically, it almost looked like a cartoon character’s smile. I had to smile in return.

 


	2. Chapter 2

We quickly piled into the car, Party Poison driving, Kobra Kid riding shotgun, and I was in the back in between Fun Ghoul and Jet Star. I was eating the dog food again, due to Kobra’s advising.

“I can wait until we find camp,” I protested.

“You barely ate anything at the bus stop, though,” he argued.

“What difference does a little time make?” I argued back.

“You should just eat,” Jet Star advised me. “While the taste doesn’t make you feel like throwing up.” He chuckled softly.

“Yeah, I agree,“ Party Poison added. "But if anything gets on the seats, you and Jet are gonna be the ones to clean it up,” he jeered to his passenger.

“Aww!” Jet Star complained.

“Fine,” Kobra said in a sulky manner. He sure went from hot to cold quickly.

I took hold of the food in my hands and started pouring it in my mouth again. It still kind of tasted good, but kind of bad at the same time. Had all the months being a fugitive made me adapted to eating disgusting food?

Fun Ghoul giggled. “How can you eat that? It’s kind of sick.”

I turned to him while licking my lips, and then said, “Mmm…”

He shuddered and turned away. “So gross!”

I giggled in response.

I looked ahead and could see Party Poison glance back here with a smile, showing off those creepy little teeth again.

We were going pretty fast, but out here in the desert, there’s no speed limit anymore. It makes me wish I could drive this car. I had only got my permit before the whole end-of-days thing… And unlike a lot of that people that came out to the desert, I was from here. Not here exactly, but I grew up in a California desert town, and if there was anything worth doing in that dirthole, it was driving fast on those two laned highways. Especially if you were with friends in the middle of the night, you could even race without the cops catching you. But of course, that’s all over with now…

Kobra Kid turned the dial on the radio, emitting a great fuzzy sound from the speakers.

“…Come on, come on…” I heard through the crackle. “…and fuck this whole wide world!”

I didn’t know music like this still existed. Although it wasn’t my cup of tea, the guys all nodded their heads to the tune.

It was like this for about 45 minutes; we just listened to the radio and odd messages from the DJ, Dr. Death Defying (what kind of a name was that, anyway?), and we even played a few car games.

By the time it started getting dark, Party Poison had driven deep through a dirt road, that he assured me led to a camping place that had proven to be safe many times. Whatever that means…

The guys bundled up with their scarves and I got my jacket returned to me. I missed the scent of that brown leather. Even after all these years, it still had a new-leather smell buried within it.

Jet Star and Kobra Kid took off their sunglasses. Jet had these light brown eyes that brightened up his whole face. I couldn’t see Kobra too well from where I sat, since l only saw ¼ of his face.

I was pulling up the sleeves on my jacket when Fun Ghoul put a finger to my wrist, pointing to my bracelet. It’s woven with small, round wooden beads of an orange dye, and right next to the knot is a small wooden crucifix, image of Christ and all. The cross extends into rays instead of bars. My sister had given it to me a year before we got separated.

  
“You still believe?” Fun Ghoul asked me. It was a skeptical question.

Did I still believe in God? I had to believe in something; some of the good things that happened to me could not have just been luck alone. Of course, being raised Catholic has a lot to do with why I still wear this, but more importantly, I wear it for the person that gave it to me.

“It gives me hope,” I answered.

Fun Ghoul raised his eyebrows slightly and tilted his head as if to say “Hmm”.

He continued examining the bracelet, turning my wrist over to look at it. It was only then that I realized he was wearing some kind of beads, too. I also noticed how covered in tattoos his arms were, from where his elbow-sleeved shirt cut off all the way to his knuckles. There must have been at least 10 tattoos on his hands alone, most notably the letters “H-A-L-L-O” on the knuckles of his right hand, which is currently on my wrist, and “W-E-E-N” on the other hand’s knuckles. He also has a ring on his ring finger. Maybe he’s married? Very interesting. I wonder how many more tattoos he’s hiding under his shirt. I can see a bit of a scorpion creeping out of one side of his neck.

“Where did you get this?” he asked, referring to my bracelet. “They sure don’t make these in places like Battery City.”

“My sister gave it to me. It was before…all of this.” I could sense it in the air once I said that. All of them realized what it meant for my sister now that I was alone.

Fun Ghoul especially had this great big look of sympathy in his eyes, his eyebrows turning up.

“I’m sorry,” he solemnly told me.

“It’s okay.” It really was. It wasn’t like she was dead. At least, that wasn’t a sure thing… “Like I said, this gives me hope.” I raised up my wrist and smiled.

He smiled back and put his hands together, twiddling his thumbs. I want to ask him about his tattoos. Maybe later.

“Ya know, me and Kobra are brothers,” Party Poison said with a slur to his voice. He seemed to speak out the side of his mouth most of the time.

I saw him smile through the reflection of the rear view mirror. I looked over at Kobra Kid and there was no expression I could see from the side of his face. I wonder which one is older? Because they sure don’t look like twins, let alone look too related from what I’ve seen so far. Of course, they both have sharp noses. Although Kobra Kid’s pointed more downwards while Party Poison’s tilted up a little. It’s kind of weird…

I raised my eyebrows in response and answered, “Who’s the older brother?”

Everyone laughed before Party answered, “I’m older. Mi—Kobra’s three years younger than me.”

Kobra was smiling now. “We’re sort of like each other’s older brother sometimes, though. You know, I have to watch out for any crazy shenanigans he might get into.” He made a quiet laugh that sounded really nerdy, but it was endearing at the same time.

“Yeah, it’s weird,” Party continued with that weird little laugh of his own. “Sometimes he’d be the one taking care of me when we were kids.”

They seem very close. Maybe they’re like me and my sister.

At that moment, the car slowed down. I looked out through the window and saw that we were really nowhere in particular.

“We’re here!” Party Poison announced, as if we were on some vacation.  

The guys quickly exited the car with me trailing behind. They all got supplies from the trunk and asked me to carry a flare. Awesome.

“See, the trail’s still here!” Party Poison called to us from the head of the line we formed while following him. “All we gotta do is follow it and it’ll lead us to camp.”

“I sure fucking hope so,” Fun Ghoul replied. “I don’t think I could sleep all tangled up next to Jet Star in the Trans-Am for another night.”

“Hey!” Jet Star complained.

Fun Ghoul giggled. “I’m just messing with you, man! But seriously, it would be nice to be able to stretch out once in a while.”

“Says the guy with the most room to stretch out…” Party Poison muttered.

Jet Star quietly laughed. He was in front of me, with Fun Ghoul, Kobra Kid, and Party Poison in front of him in that order.

We could still barely see. The ground had turned blue and the padding of rocks in the dirt let us know that we were practically all alone over here. It was so quiet. Except for the wind, and maybe the rustling of weeds, not a sound was heard. All the small animals had died out; it was a shame. Usually when the sun went down in the desert, that’s when all the lizards, crickets, coyotes, and even rabbits came out. But none of them were here now. At least, if any survived, they were too scared to come out.

We walked like this for nearly ten minutes until we finally came across a huge empty area complete with some burned out black wood, a few blankets on the floor, a few makeshift gadgets lying around, and a dusty trunk.

“I’m calling a blanket!” Jet Star announced with great vigor in his soft voice.

“What the hell, man?” Fun Ghoul scowled. “You can’t just do that when we have a girl with us.”

I started to feel uncomfortable. It didn’t really matter much to me if I had a blanket—before I realized there were only four blankets and five of us. But still, it didn’t matter much to me. The last few nights I had to make do with just the outfit I had on and burying myself in the sand. It’s actually a lot warmer than it sounds…

“Oh…Sorry…” Jet Star replied, sounding dejected.

“Hey, it’s alright. There’s no need to give me any special treatment,” I told him. Really. They were already killing me with their kindness.

“No, we should listen to Fun Ghoul. There’s no way I’m letting you sleep without a blanket,” Party Poison told me with a solemn brow.

“Because I’m a girl?” I asked, with a little bit of attitude, I must admit.

“No,” Party replied with just as much attitude. “Because you’ve had it rough for a few days and we think it’d only be fair to make your journey with us a comfortable one.”

It was a staredown between me and Party Poison. Everyone was quiet for a couple seconds.

“And because you’re a girl,” Fun Ghoul suddenly added with a smirk. The rest of us looked at him in stunned silence.

Kobra Kid broke it with a quiet laugh. Then Jet Star. I looked from those two to Party and then we both relaxed. I breathed out a short laugh. So did he.

“Anyway, you’re getting a blanket and we’ll duke it out amongst ourselves,” he finally said.

“Then I’m calling a blanket—besides the one Stellar is using!” Jet Star reclaimed with as much urgency as the first time.

“Wait a sec—Does this mean one person doesn’t get a blanket?” Fun Ghoul asked.

“Either that, or some of us can share,” Party explained with a grin.

“In that case, I’m calling a blanket too!” Fun Ghoul rushed over to sit on his blanket.

“So I guess we’re sharing?” Kobra Kid asked Party Poison.

“I guess so…” Party responded.

“Hold on!” I exclaimed. “One of these blankets can’t possibly be big enough for the both of you.”

Party Poison laughed.

“Why are you laughing?!” I asked. He was so incredulous.

“We’re each going to take turns keeping watch tonight, so none of us will really be without a blanket at any time,” he answered.

“Oh.” Duh. Of course they would be taking turns keeping watch tonight. “Then why was it such a big deal who got a blanket?”

He shrugged. “Ask Jet Star. He started it…”

Jet Star raised his hands out, saying, “Hey, I wasn’t the only one going overboard. At least I didn’t run over to claim a blanket.”

Fun Ghoul looked down in mock ignorance as he sat on his blanket, scrunching his lips sideways.

I started laughing out loud. This was just too much for me. These guys acted like kids. They looked toward me, so I quickly covered my mouth, clearing my throat.

“I think we should get started on this fire,” Party Poison announced. He brought out a bag filled with pieces of wood. “I’ll need that flare, too.” I handed it to him.

After the fire was made, we all sat around in a semi circle, feeling the warmth of the flames and eating that puppy chow.I insisted that I didn’t have to eat, since I just ate a whole can on the way here, but Kobra once again ordered me to eat. Why did no one beside me argue with him?

It was interesting to watch the others eat it. Party Poison relished in the stuff, making the most of it, I suppose. He seemed like the type of person to make the most of even the worst situation.

Jet Star winced every time the food went into his mouth, but he still ate heartily.

Fun Ghoul occasionally spit out the food. He really hated this stuff.

Even Kobra Kid had a hard time eating the stuff he urged me so badly to. He made every spoonful look like it weighed ten pounds, chewing slowly, and swallowing with a painful look on his face.

Speaking of his face, I finally got to see it properly in the firelight. I could finally see the resemblance to his brother: he had the same hazel-green eyes and the same angular eyebrows. But with his sharp bone structure and thin face, the eyebrows loped out longer and everything looked more graceful on his face. He actually had a kind expression in his eyes almost all the time. Even if he was staring down, lost in thought, his eyebrows might have stayed flat, but his eyes had this vulnerability to them.

It was during one of his moments lost in thought that I was able to note all of that. Unfortunately, somebody noted me noting Kobra’s face.

“Kobra’s a sweet looking man, eh?” Party Poison whispered to me with a quiet giggle.

I flushed from being caught staring, but then I creased my brows together. Why was Party Poison talking about his brother like that?

“What?” was all I hushed out in a whisper. I looked over at Kobra Kid. He hadn’t seemed to notice or hear us. Jet Star and Fun Ghoul were also busy talking amongst themselves, so I was safe from them noticing.

Party Poison laughed quietly again and answered, “Don’t mind me. You can look all you want.”

I didn’t know how to answer that. I mean, I wasn’t really looking at Kobra Kid that way, but now that I thought about it, he was rather good-looking…

“I wasn’t—it’s not—shut up!” I whispered to Party. He just giggled in return.

“What are you guys laughing about?” Fun Ghoul asked.

“Nothing!” I quickly answered, giving Party a death glare.

Fun Ghoul shrugged in return.

I tried not to look at Kobra too much after that exchange. Freakin’ Party Poison. Making things awkward for me. Whatever happened to making things as comfortable as possible?

During the night, Jet Star got one of those gadgets to work, and it ended up being a transmitter that sent messages to other Killjoys. There were stored messages, some from months ago, some just from a few days ago. We found that we could even make our own transmission to be broadcast for all Killjoys to hear, but we didn’t get any messages back that night.

The four guys got busy making plans about how to best effectively infiltrate Battery City and the BL/ind headquarters. I just sat by myself while they did all this. It finally gave me time to stop my head from spinning.

I think I was still processing the fact that I was finally with a group of people again. The days are incredibly long in the desert. It leaves a lot of time to feel lonely when you’re passing by the same dirt, the same cacti, the same mountains that never seem to get smaller no matter how much you walk… But now, I’m not alone.

I can’t believe how much I smiled, laughed, and joked all in one day. I can’t even remember the last time all this happened. The old couple in Zone 18 were nice, but they were incredibly negative about their situation. In fact, I had been held at gunpoint by them when I first met them. It took seeing my bracelet to have them believe I wasn’t an agent from Battery City. After that, they treated me with cordiality, but they were always so serious.

These guys, on the other hand, they seemed to make the absolute best of their situation. I already know I’ll be sad to see them go.

“…Don’t stress too much about it. We still have plenty of time to figure this out,” I could hear Fun Ghoul say.

“How am I not supposed to stress out about this? Who knows what they could be doing to her?” Party Poison replied.

“If they wanted to kill her, they would have done it instead of taking her,” Kobra remarked.

“But they could still torture her,” Party retorted.

“Worrying about it isn’t going to make it any better. Just imagine that she’s playing with a big bouncy ball, just waiting for us to pick her up, like from daycare or something,” Jet Star told Party.

“Do you know how fucking ridiculous that sounds?” Party Poison asked with a wry laugh.

“In any case, we should all just sleep on it,” Fun Ghoul proposed. “In the morning, we can think of an effective battle plan. Anyway, we need to get _her_ somewhere safe,”  And sure enough they all looked over at me at the same time.

I felt my cheekbones tingle with a blush and I just felt so awkward. I couldn’t think of anything to say and just looked to the side—at the fire—anything but straight into their eyes.

Party Poison sighed. “You’re right. I’ll keep watch first. We’ll switch off every two hours. You guys go ahead and get some sleep.”

I felt a bit guilty as I laid my head down, covering myself with the rough, dirty blanket. Not just because of everything these guys had done for me; but because I got in the way of them rescuing that girl that was important to them. What if she died because they couldn’t get there in time—because of me? I can’t handle that.

 

I stayed awake while lying down, wanting to just run away. But I can’t do that. It would only worry them more.

But it was driving me crazy being stuck here. Party Poison was silent the entire time he kept watch. He hardly moved, and when I snuck a look at him, his face was just stone solid. I feel like maybe he was so charismatic in front of everyone because he didn’t want anyone to know how troubled he really was.

He had a watch with him, to check for the two hours, and woke his brother up to take the next post. Kobra hardly stirred before Party had to nudge him about ten times.

“…my turn?” Kobra groggily asked.

“Yeah, Mikey.” I suppose Mikey is his real name. It actually suits him very well.

I heard him stand up and Party Poison sit down with the blanket.

“Make sure you get some sleep, Gerard. I mean it,” Kobra/Mikey ordered his older brother. So Party’s real name is Gerard…

“Yeah, yeah…” Party/Gerard muttered back.

“I’m not kidding. I don’t want to see any bags under your eyes in the morning,” the little brother warned.

Party/Gerard softly chuckled. “Maybe if we still had coffee, you wouldn’t have to worry about that.”

Kobra/Mikey chuckled back, “What I would give to have a cup of coffee… But seriously, get some sleep, Gee.”

“Okay, Mikey. Just because you asked _so nicely_ …”

I heard the dirt crunch below Kobra/Mikey as he sat down. I was only a few feet away from him, so I could spy him sitting with his knees up, his hands hugging them close while his boot-covered toes turned toward each other. It was a very childish way of sitting. I almost laughed.

A part of me wants to keep watch with him because I feel like he could easily go off into some deep thought and lose concentration—but also because I never got to properly thank him for all his help.

After 15 minutes of waiting for Party Poison to fall asleep, I quietly took my blanket off of me. Kobra didn’t even notice. I made sure to sit up on my knees as noiselessly as I could, but I still managed to kick up a few pebbles.

Before I could make a move, I found myself staring at Kobra Kid pointing a ray gun just two inches from the middle of my eyes–


	3. Chapter 3

I quickly put my hands up, inching away from Kobra as if he were a cop arresting me.

“Uh—It’s you!” he whispered.

When I could finally say something again, I answered, “Sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“It’s okay,” he replied as he lowered his ray gun. Man, he could be scary sometimes…

I decided to sit down next to him in front of the fire. We were silent for a few minutes. It wasn’t awkward. We both just stayed there, listening to the snap of the flames and looking out at the dark desert.

“Why are you up?” Kobra finally asked me in a quiet voice.

“I couldn’t sleep,” I whispered back.

He nodded in reply, his eyebrows looking sort of empathetic.

We were quiet for a little while again.

“Thank you,” I whispered.

“For what?” he asked.

“For everything. But especially for being my unofficial doctor today,” I said with a light chuckle.

His lips curved into a smile. A very attractive smile. It hurt.

“You’re welcome,” he finally answered.

We sat in silence again.

I noticed he started making patterns in the dirt next to his feet. I wonder what he’s thinking about.

“So…” I started. I finally have the chance to talk to him and I can’t even figure out what to say. So it just stayed in the air like that. Kobra hadn’t seemed to notice, though.

Then out of nowhere, he smiled and made a quiet, short laugh.

“What is it?” I whispered.

“Nothing, really,” he cryptically answered. I really wanted to know what made this guy smile, since he didn’t do it so often.

I looked over and narrowed my eyes at him. He glanced over and caught my look, then laughed again.

“Okay… It’s just… you’re a lot tougher than you look.” He smiled downward.

And that’s funny?

“I don’t follow…” I told him.

“Well, you remind me of a cat I used to have. Cutest little thing, but she was a tough cookie! And so smart. Anyway, I guess you just reminded me of my cat. Her name was Bunny.”

I cracked a smile. “You named your cat Bunny?”

“Well, it was partly my girlfriend’s idea, too. I loved the irony of it.”

Oh yeah, the girlfriend. Of course. He is like ten years older than me, so of course he would have a girlfriend. I would ask more, but I don’t want to pry.

“I was also thinking how for such a young girl, you’re really brave.”

“I’m really not that brave. Besides, you guys were the ones who rescued me.”

“Yeah, but I don’t think I would have had the guts to run away and stand up for myself against Dracs at the age of 19.”

“I seriously doubt that,” I told him with a smile.

He looked over, smiled and put his head back down. “Mmm, maybe. Maybe not.”

“For what it’s worth, you just scared the crap out of me a few minutes ago when you pointed that gun at me,” I said with a quiet laugh.

Kobra quietly laughed in return.

We were quiet for another minute or two. I decided to stretch out my knees and sat with my hands behind me.

“I’m actually really jealous of you. To have three guys with you, including your older brother.” I told him. Why was I telling him this? Was I that tired?

He looked at me with a straight face for a few seconds. I looked away. Great. Now I had made him feel bad.

“Uh…forget I even said that,” I quickly muttered.

“No, it’s okay. I know what it’s like to feel lonely,” Kobra told me with a deep look in his eyes. “I can only imagine what it must be like out here by yourself…”

I looked down. “It’s not unbearable. And I sometimes come across people like you and your friends.”

Kobra didn’t answer for a while. Then, “If you don’t mind me asking, what happened to your sister?”

I swallowed. “Uh… it was during the time of the big Cleanout in Battery City. We were part of the thousands that wanted to escape, that didn’t want to become assimilated into that silicon half life. But the government was ready to deal with us. Of course, at that time, we had no idea we would be going up against armed officials.

“My sister and I were ready to escape at all costs. She made me hold her hand as we prepared to breach the West border with a hundred others. And that’s when the fighting started. It was chaos… People were getting shot down around us, arrested–some were killing officials. Somehow during the frenzy, me and my sister became unlinked and the last thing she told me was ‘Keep running!’ and ‘Don’t look back!’

“I did as I was told, naively believing that since it was Krys, she would make it out okay, too. That she would catch up to me in no time. So I just kept running, miraculously made my way out to the desert, and no one even followed. But I never saw her again.

“I waited a whole week, just outside the border. I was waiting to see her come running after me. But she never came. After that, I rounded up with about twenty other escapees from the Cleanout, and we became Killjoys.”

“I’m sorry,” Kobra told me. He looked like he really meant it.

“It’s okay. She has to be alright,” I said.

“How old was she?” he asked.

“She was about to turn 21.”

“So she was your older sister?”

“Yeah,” I nodded. “And I was her little sister that she always protected.” I threw a stone into the fire.

We were silent for another while.

Kobra Kid broke the silence and sighed. “You should get some sleep.”

“I’m not tired,” I quickly answered.

He exhaled sharply. “Do you always argue?” He looked a little annoyed now as he stared down at the knuckles he was cracking.

“Hey buddy, I’ve been taking your orders all day. Besides, I couldn’t sleep if I tried to.”

One of Kobra Kid’s eyebrows quickly twitched up. He was silent for several seconds. He finally turned to me and said, “Okay.”

I took this as approval for me to stay next to him. He checked the watch Party Poison gave him and noted, “We still have an hour left, though. You sure you can stay up?”

“Yeah, of course,” I answered.

He shifted himself now so that he was sitting cross-legged (quite awkwardly, I might add. The movement was so angular and not fluid at all.) As he did so, some of his blonde hair flopped forward over his forehead. He didn’t even try to move it.

I took this next moment of silence to examine the cuts and bruises I had. I quietly walked over to the trunk, and found shards of glass hidden in the sides. I took a piece with me as I sat back down by the fire and moved it in front of me so I could see my face. There were dark red vertical scratches on my chin. Nothing I could do about that. There were more scratches around my left eye and temple. My dark, long hair was as good as it could be out in the desert. Even though I hadn’t washed it in days…

“We’ll need to find something to disinfect those cuts and the ones on your knees.” I jumped when I heard Kobra blurt that out. I didn’t realize I had an audience.

“They’ll be fine,” I dismissed. I lifted my right pant leg to examine my knee. There’s blood stained on the outside, so that one is probably a bit more serious. I’d had a bad fall when I escaped the raid and made contact with a jagged rock. The knee is now a bloody mess with milky pus forming in the middle of the wound.

I grimaced at the sight. “See, I told you…” Kobra said with a smug look.

“I believe you, _doctor_ ,” I replied.

“Here, let me take care of that for now,” he said as he sidled closer to me. He took a scarf out of one of the side pockets in his pants and ripped a section of it.

I looked at him questioningly.

“I don’t bite,” he said with a bit of an edge, waiting for me to let go of my knee.

I took my hands away and Kobra took one of the aluminum bottles and poured out the liquid all over my kneecap. “This won’t disinfect it, but it should clean it up a bit.” He wiped the scarf directly over the wound, and it felt like pieces of skin were being scraped off.

“Holy—” I started to yelp, but I quickly covered my mouth with one hand so I didn’t wake anyone up.

I unintentionally jerked my leg up, but Kobra held it down fast and continued to wipe the area. He took the rest of the ripped up scarf and wrapped it tightly around the knee, but just loose enough for me to keep my circulation.

He finally looked up at me and smirked to one side of his face. “Done,” he declared.

I took my hand from my face and touched the scarf, examining the work. Then I quickly lifted down my pant leg. “Um…thank you,” I answered, gasping from the momentary pain. Crap. I was blushing. Hope he didn’t notice. I’ll blame it on holding my breath.

He moved back to his previous spot in the same position.

“How do you know so much about first aid and diseases and crap?” I asked him.

He tilted his head to one side as he answered, “I used to read a lot. I used to watch TV a lot too, haha. Of course, a lot of the first aid stuff is from experience.”

I nodded in understanding. I had learned a few things on my own, too, such as that trick for sleeping out in the desert at night. But I never had to deal too much with getting hurt. Until now, anyway.

“So you guys run into a lot of danger?” I asked.

Kobra pushed his lips up. “You could say that. We pissed some important people off recently, though. I guess it’s okay for you to know; the four of us are currently the most wanted Killjoys in Battery City. Wanted exterminated or alive.”

“What did you guys do?”

“Well, for one, we stole that car—and then personalized it–we stole ray guns, we impersonated agents, we killed about thirty Dracs—oh, and we put Korse in the hospital. I actually got in one of the finishing blows.” He softly chuckled, but then his face went dark.

“It was too bad we didn’t kill him. Unfortunately, we had a little girl with us at the time, so when Korse went after our heads, his goons gunned us down, and they took her. They warned us not to go back to Battery City.”

In the firelight, the frown made his sunken eyes look even deeper inside his skull.

“I’m sorry,” I told him. I really am. They should be focusing on getting this little girl, whoever she was to them. Not on me.

“It’s okay. We’re going to get her back. Even if we fall trying.” Kobra cracked his gloved knuckles again.

A crazy thought went into my head. “Hey…what if I helped you guys get this little girl back?”

Kobra’s eyes widened as both of his eyebrows shot up. “No way! You could get seriously hurt. There’s no way we’d put you through that!”

He stopped talking because he looked around, seeing if his outburst woke any of the guys up.

“You don’t even have a gun,” he continued in a whisper, “and from the looks of it, you haven’t been in too many gunfights.”

I looked down. Yeah, I never actually had been in a gunfight, but I’ve taken out some Dracs of my own. I wouldn’t be completely useless.

“In that case, you guys should just leave me and rescue that little girl. She’s more important.”

“It’ll take us at least three days to get to Battery City anyway.” Kobra ran a hand through his blond hair, finally moving that piece out of his face. He looked stressed. Why did they all worry so much about me?!

“Getting you to safety would be on the way—and it would be our pleasure to help you out.”

I sighed. “I can’t just let you guys go into Battery City. You could die.”

Kobra’s serious face turned into a small grin. “But don’t you know?”

“Know what?” I asked.

“Killjoys never die.” He laughed. “We’ll be fine.”

I made a small smile. Even if that was true, I still worried about them. Going into enemy territory where everyone would be looking for them? It’s suicide. At least if I went into Battery City—as scary as that’d be—my anonymity could be of use. Of course, after being affiliated with these guys, I would be wanted, too. And I had done such a good job of keeping a low profile all these months. Would I ruin that anonymity just for these guys? Yeah, I would. They saved my life. It’s the least I could do to return the favor.

I realized I’ve been staring off into nothing for a good minute. I hadn’t even noticed Kobra stand up and go to the other side of the fire. He’s peering out into the darkness.

“Do you see something?” I whispered.

“Shh,” he answered.

I looked in the same direction, my heart rate increasing. What if more Dracs had followed in the direction from where the other ones were?

After about thirty seconds, Kobra came back to my side of the fire. I looked up at him imploringly.

When he looked down, he told me, “I didn’t see anything. But I thought I might have heard something. It would probably be a good idea to douse this fire a bit.

I helped Kobra lower the flame by pouring a bunch of sand over the flames, until they were glowing no brighter than embers.

We sat down once the job was done. But I’m still a bit paranoid. I really don’t think I can get any sleep now.

“How much time do you have left until the next shift?” I asked.

Kobra looked at the watch. “Eight minutes. I’ll probably keep watch for longer, though. Just until I make sure that there’s nothing out there.”

We both looked at each other at the same time. I started to say something in case he was going to tell me to go to sleep. He was about to say something too, but instead, he just laughed, the understanding in his eyes apparent. I laughed, too.

“You guys are sure getting chummy,” we heard from behind us. We whipped our heads around to see Fun Ghoul sitting up, smoothing out his tangled hair.

“Hey man, you still got time before you start your shift,” Kobra told him.

“Did we wake you up?” I asked.

Fun Ghoul smiled and answered, “I’ve been kind of half asleep for what seems like forever. Heard you guys bickering, then laughing like a bunch of teenage girls at a slumber party. And yes—you are a teenage girl—but Kobra here’s already approaching the top of the hill.”

“Whatever, dude! You got a pot laugh…” Kobra joked.

“Hey, I haven’t done pot in years, okay? Don’t go calling it a pot laugh, man,” Fun Ghoul chuckled at the end of his sentence. I wouldn’t call it a pot laugh. It’s more like a mischievous cherub’s laugh.

Fun Ghoul went and sat down on my right. “What are you doing up anyway?” he asked me.

“I couldn’t sleep,” I told him.

“Right… I’m surprised Kobra didn’t knock you out himself, then.” Fun Ghoul smirked over at his comrade, who gave him a blank stare.

“Why would I do that?” Kobra asked, completely ignorant to the joke.

Me and Fun Ghoul exchanged a look and giggled.

“What? I’m not that violent…” Kobra protested. How could anyone accuse this guy when he looked so damn innocent like he did, getting offended at a little joke.

We were all quiet for a moment.

“So I take it the three of us are going to be keeping watch now?” Fun Ghoul said with a laugh.

“I was about to suggest to Stellar over here that she should go to sleep.” Kobra raised an eyebrow at me as he said this.

“And I was about to say no. I can’t sleep.” I grinned at Kobra.

“How long have you been up?” Fun Ghoul asked.

“To be honest…I haven’t slept at all…” I said, feeling a bit sheepish about it.

“Jesus, shouldn’t you be like dropping dead of exhaustion now?”

“I dunno…” I answered with a shrug. Fun laughed at me.

“God, you’re one crazy chick,” he giggled.

Kobra chuckled. “I’m surprised you have this much energy. I mean, it must have taken a lot to run without food and water for days. And even then, you only had that dog food and dirty water. You sure you’re even human?”

“I bet she’s bionic,” Fun Ghoul snorted.

“More like the Energizer Bunny,” Kobra said in a nasal voice. He started giggling like a kid. “Keeps going…and going… and going…”

Fun Ghoul laughed at Kobra while he wiped his eyes. “So what have you guys been doing all this time? I suspect there was little watch-keeping going on…”

“Actually, I thought I might have heard something about 250 yards off to the southeast. I tried to look for something, but it’s so dark, and even if something were there, it would be easily concealed in the darkness,” Kobra Kid explained.

Fun Ghoul creased his eyebrows in thought. “I’ll be sure to look out for that. You get some sleep.”

“It’s okay. I was planning on staying up a little longer—at least until I was sure the coast was clear.”

“Alright… Don’t complain in the morning. We don’t have coffee anymore,” Fun Ghoul told him with a laugh.

“I know!” Kobra replied indignantly.

I giggled. It was the second time he’d been reminded of that vice tonight.

“What are you laughing at?” Fun Ghoul asked, not necessarily in a mean way. “Go to sleep,” he said as he playfully pushed my head away from him.

“Hey!” is all I replied. It was then that I noticed the tattoos on his left arm. There’s a bit of blue and red, and it looks like some kind of saint, although it is a bit creepy looking.

“Hey, Fun Ghoul,” I started to whisper. He looked over at me and choked a laugh.

“Can you please not call me that? It sounds even more ridiculous out loud,” he told me with a grin while shaking his head.

“Then what do you want me to call you?” I asked.

“Just call me Frank,” he told me.

“Frank. Is that your real name?”

“Yup. It’s a lot less embarrassing than Fun Ghoul…” he stated with a roll of his eyes.

I breathed out a laugh. “Then why is Fun Ghoul your Killjoy name if it’s so embarrassing?”

He looked to the side, “I thought it sounded cool, you know, like a name for a gun. But then once I started being Fun Ghoul, I realized how stupid it was.”

Kobra laughed softly.

“Shut up, Mikey!” Frank whispered, “Mikey’s Kobra’s real name.”

Kobra/Mikey had wide eyes. “So…now we’re just dropping our names?” he asked as he looked at me quickly.

I looked down in awkwardness.

“Relax man. It’s not like she would sell us out or anything. We can trust her,” Frank argued. Wow. He barely knew me and he trusted me. “After all, she’s a fellow Fabulous Killjoy.”

“Fabulous?” I echoed.

Frank giggled. “Yeah. The four of us call ourselves the Fabulous Killjoys, but I think you fit in so well, we’ll allow a fifth member.”

“I’m cool with that,” Mikey said with a straight face. I smiled. I’m not sure what made me a Fabulous Killjoy, but if it put me in the ranks with these guys, I could deal with it.

“Anyway…Frank, I wanted to ask you about your tattoos,” I told him, waiting for rejection.

Instead, his eyes got real big and he looked at me in veneration. “Which ones? I could tell you about each and every one.”

“Really?” I asked. And he did. He started telling me about all his tattoos, starting from his neck to his arms, and he showed me some of the ones under his shirt, like these two birds dangerously close to his pelvic area. That was an awkward one.

I actually found myself nodding off, waking up to Frank saying, “and these are lyrics from a band I used to sing for a very, very long time ago…”

I jerked my head up. “Really?” I asked, failing to not sound groggy.

Frank laughed at me. “I think that’s enough storytelling for now. You’re snoring through them now.”

“No I’m not!” I argued.

“You should really get some sleep, Stellar,” Mikey told me. I just realized they never asked me for my real name. “I’m not taking no for an answer this time.”

“Oh, watch out… Mikey’s gettin’ serious,” Frank joked.

“No, I can stay up a bit longer,” I protested. I didn’t want to go to sleep. I just wanted to stay up all night talking to these guys.

“Watch—your eyes are closing…” Kobra/Mikey teased me in a sing-song voice. Against my will, they were closing.

I blinked my eyes open to see him grinning at me.

“Jedi mind tricks,” he said as he nodded his head to Frank. Frank giggled.

Mikey took one of his hands and put them over my eyes. I tried to grab it off, but I didn’t have enough energy. And then my eyes closed for good that night.


	4. Chapter 4

I found myself blinking my eyes open to Frank’s tattooed hands in front of my face. He was asleep, facing me. Mikey was also asleep, curled up a few feet to my left. Jet Star was snoring just behind him.

In fact, it was early morning and the only person I could see awake was Party Poison—or Gerard, as his name really was. He was kneeling over by the burned out fire opposite from the rest of us, staring off into the distance.

I stretched in the small space I had, making sure not to touch Frank in case I woke him up. He must have not moved before falling asleep, because my face was only inches from his left arm, which was bent to form a pillow with his hands. His sleeping face had a slight frown on it.

I felt sore in my bandaged knee again, and tried to extend that leg quietly. It hurt slightly, but I stayed silent through the pain.

For a second, I thought about going back to sleep. I probably only slept for a few hours. Also, it was still a bit chilly. Funny how it could be like 45 degrees now, but then it would surely get above 100 by 11am.

So I rewrapped the blanket around me and turned on my side. There was just something a little intrusive about lying facing someone when you were awake and they were not. Plus, Frank did kind of look attractive when he was sleeping—crap, not him too…

Of course, now I was facing Mikey. Good thing I couldn’t even see what his face looked like when he was sleeping. But under his red jacket, his small zebra-print shirt rode up above his hips so I could see a rather good portion of his bare lower back and a bit of his underpants. He had a blanket, but it was all over the front of his body and not his back. He was probably cold. I kind of wanted to just go over there and put the blanket on him properly.

Instead, I shut my eyes and actually fell back into sleep again. The silence of the desert morning just made it so peaceful and so easy to lose consciousness…

“STELLAR! GET UP NOW!” was hollered into my ear as I felt a strong arm roughly yank me up from the ground. The world is bright and my eyes burn. My legs awkwardly scraped the ground as I got pulled from behind, so I was basically running backwards in a hazy stupor.

My first instinct was to lash back saying “What the fuck”, but as soon as I saw the white suits and the hideous monster masks just twenty feet away, I shut up.

I quickly turned around to see that it was Frank who had yanked me, his tattooed hands gripped in an iron hold around my left bicep. We were running fast through the dirt and the rocks, not even looking back. It’s bright and sunny now, but I don’t see any of the other guys around us. I looked back quickly—and just my luck—slid in the sand and stumbled sideways against Frank.

“Don’t look back!” he sternly ordered me as he roughly picked me up again from my fallen knees. I was in too much of a panic to argue or feel pain. I hope the other guys are okay…

Frank and I kept running for what felt like ten minutes until we got to some sand dunes, which we hid ourselves between.

“Stay down,” Frank ordered me as we both crouched down against one of the dunes. He took his green ray gun out of its holster that was slung around his arm. He slowly rose, moving his head up to see if the Dracs had gotten close yet.

I looked up at him, feeling panicked. I want to know what happened to Party, Kobra and Jet! Were they alive? Why were me and Frank the only ones here?

I started to say something but—

“Shh! Ask questions later. Right now, we have to take care of a few pests.” Frank had a hard look on his face and he moved up to the top of the sand dune to get a better vantage point. He fired his gun three times.

After a few seconds, darts of light hit the sand above my head, sending a cloud of dirt to burst all over my face.

I coughed out against the dust, starting to feel worried for Frank. He was in clear view.

“Frank, get down!” I shouted at him.

He stayed at the top of the dune as if he didn’t hear me. He had a determined look on his face. He wasn’t going to back down until he killed those Dracs. Ugh, if ever there was a more dire time to need a ray gun!

I stood up to rush over to Frank—not that I really had a plan of what to do—but he caught my eye and shouted, “Stay down there!”

“Not until you get down, too!” I yelled back at him.

He glared at me and shook his head, turning back toward the Dracs and firing his gun again. I’m not sure what to do. He’s in clear range, it’s only a matter of time before—

“Watch out!” I heard Frank scream just before he leaped from the sand dune over to me, crashing us both down into the rocks and dirt. We slid down a couple of dunes, getting scraped all over our exposed arms by the spindly weeds and the sharp rocks dotting the ground. It was a mess of dark hair, tattoos, leather, and weeds as we tumbled down the dunes. Tumbleweed spikes stuck into my arms and my legs and Frank and I knocked our heads against each other a few times.

When we were finally still, Frank was hovering over me, searching for his gun and looking somewhere to the left. It was then that I noticed he was bleeding off of one side of his face. A lot.

“Frank!” I exclaimed as I sat up on the dirt to try and see the damage. Some of his blood had even gotten on my hands somehow.

“I’m fine!” he lashed out, but then he let out a grunt of pain.

“Let me see…” I told him, making sure to be more calm this time. He kept his face away from me, but I got up anyway to walk around and see that from the right corner of his lip all the way to his right ear was a huge streak of blood, running down his neck in thick trails of crimson.

I gasped a little.

“What? It’s just a scratch,” he irritably growled. But he still looked in pain.

“Frank, that is not just a scratch!” I told him. I searched around in my pockets, and finally just ripped a corner of my shirt off. “Look, just fold this over and keep it over the gash. Please.”

Frank reluctantly took the bit of my black shirt and did as I told him. “I think you’re making a bigger deal of it than it is…” he muttered.

I don’t want to deal with this tough guy act. I turned back around, looking up. The Dracs were sure to come around here, soon.

“It was a laser, wasn’t it?” I told Frank without looking at him. It was all clear. Frank saved me from getting hit by one of the Dracs and got hit himself.

“Look,” he started, sounding friendly once again. “Whatever it was, it’s just a good thing that it didn’t get you.”

I sighed out in frustration. “Why are you all protecting me?! I don’t want you guys to get hurt like this just to save me!”

Frank’s face turned into a sad frown as he held the piece of my shirt to his cheek. “We just want to make sure nothing bad happens to you.”

“Well, I don’t need it. Not if it means other people will get hurt because of me.” I looked back up toward the dune where we fell. I spotted Frank’s gun in the distance and rushed toward it without thinking. I’m not going to be completely useless anymore.

I leaped over the dirt and the rocks, Frank hollering at me the whole time. But I had to keep climbing, to reach that ray gun.

I rose up from my hands and my knees to leap toward the gun as a Drac came through the sand dunes toward me. I quickly grabbed the gun, scraping my knuckles across the rocky sand.

PEW! I fired the laser right into the Drac’s heart. And he fell.

“Stellar! Get the fuck back here!” I heard Frank scold as he clambered up the dunes as well.

Two more Dracs came over the dunes. One had a ray gun and the other was just really tall. I decided to rush toward the one with the ray gun and hit him in the face with the green gun. The Drac stumbled back as I cocked back the gun and shot into his throat.

I smirked at the good job I’d done until I felt huge arms hook over my head and pull up on my neck. The ray gun slipped out of my reach and I grabbed up at the white-sleeved arms as they threatened to strangle me.

“Gah!” I screamed as the sweat ran down my brow and my breathing started to become strained. My lungs were going to burst, and I’m sure I was getting bruised around my throat.

All of a sudden, the Drac loosened his grip and fell over me. I gasped in a great big gulp of air as I ran forward, letting the Drac fall to the dirt. I turned around while massaging my neck to see Frank standing in the Drac’s place. He was frowning at me.

“Why don’t you ever do what you’re told?” he asked me. He then bent down, picked up his gun, and fired a laser into the Drac’s skull. That Drac would never rise again.

I couldn’t even think of anything to say. Frank scratched his head and took the piece of my shirt out of his pocket. “Of course, you always listen to Mikey. But who doesn’t?” he muttered as he put the cloth to his cheek again.

“Thank you,” was all I could muster out.

“Yeah, yeah…” he muttered again. “Come on, let’s get out of here. The other guys should be waiting for us at the next checkpoint on the highway.”

“What?” I asked.

Frank cleared his throat. “Korse was here. He had about 7 Dracs with him. Gerard and the guys led him and four of the Dracs on a chase. I stayed here with you to fend off against the other three. The guys should be fine.”

“How could you let me sleep through that?!” I hollered.

He ran a free hand through his hair again. “Well, we didn’t exactly have time to really think it through. It was kind of all fast, and it only took a few seconds for us to make the decision to split up. Don’t freak out so much.”

Don’t freak out? Don’t freak out?! Frank’s bleeding out of his face! The other Killjoys are gone. I just killed my first two Dracs…

I looked down. I could feel my hands shaking. I closed my eyes and started to breathe through my nose. The shaking slowed.

“Sorry. Let’s go and meet up with the guys,” I told Frank. He smiled from the unharmed side of his mouth.

“Alright, then! Just follow me,” he told me as he held the black piece of cloth to his cheek. The blood on his neck had started to dry, but there were drops stained all over his shirt and vest.

I must have been looking at him for at least a minute without saying anything. But he either didn’t mind or didn’t notice.

Other than Frank’s injury, we were both okay. Of course, we were busy getting spikes out of our arms, legs, and clothes for about three minutes, I probably had a few more cuts to disinfect, and my knee would probably get infected again, but other than that, we were all good. There was a bit of a breeze in the desert. Even though the air that was blowing was hot, it was nice to feel any kind of breeze to dry off the sweat.

“Good job on getting those two Dracs. Did it just like a pro,” Frank told me with a giggle.

I made a small smile. “I was surprised. I didn’t know I had it in me. Thanks for helping me out again. How you got that Drac without a gun is beyond me. I mean, he was huge!”

“Hey, don’t underestimate the power of short people! After all, we gotta stick together, right?” Frank reached a hand over and ruffled up my hair. I was probably the only person shorter than him in this whole desert.

I laughed. “Right.”

Frank just smirked at me in response. We walked for over an hour, got to the highway, and kept walking. My feet were starting to hurt. I was sure that I had about twenty blisters on them alone. Better not tell Mikey… Speaking of him, I hope he and the others were okay.

But Frank kept me busy by talking about his life before the great environmental disaster changed the world. Apparently he was married, grew up in the former New Jersey, and he said that he and the other guys used to be in a little rock band of their own.

“Have I heard of you guys?” I asked him.

“Oh, we weren’t that big…” he said with a smile. “But I lived and breathed for every second of it.”

I smiled at him. “I always kind of wondered what it would be like to be in a rock band—back when things were still normal.”

Frank giggled. “It wasn’t too different from being a Killjoy. At least, in the beginning. We went around the country in a van, had little to no access to clean showers, Mikey and Gerard smelled,” he giggled, “we scraped along for food, and we would meet people just like ourselves, people that just wanted to be free. All of the struggle, all the pain we put ourselves through, it was all worth it once we got to play for that half hour onstage.” He closed his eyes and wistfully sighed. “What I would give to get my hands on a guitar again…”

“The old man I was staying with before the raid—he had an acoustic guitar!” I said with a bright smile. For once I contributed something to the conversation.

“Really?” Frank’s hazel eyes got big.

“Yeah, he would play for his wife. I asked him to give me a few lessons, but he was kind of crabby. A little stingy with his guitar, too. But sometimes when he was out, I would…borrow it…and mess around with it.” Which meant I would steal it when he was out getting rations. But I really didn’t know how to play.

Frank smiled. “If we ever come across another one, I can give you a proper lesson.”

“Really?!” I asked a little loudly. Good thing we were the only ones around for like miles.

Frank giggled. “Yeah, of course! You should get Ray—Jet Star—to teach you some things, too. That guy could shred like a Norse god!”

I laughed. There seemed to be a lot of positive memories behind those words.

After about thirty more minutes of walking, we could see a building coming up soon.

“Is that the check point?” I asked Frank.

He narrowed his eyes to look close and nodded. “Yeah, that’s it. We might get into a firefight, just so you know. This place was owned by BL/ind agents, but it has food, water, gas, anything useful you can pretty much think of. Which makes it a prime spot for agents to ambush us.”

He reached under his arm. “Here. You take my gun. You’re pretty good with it anyway.” He handed the green ray gun to me.

“What are you going to fight with?” I asked while taking the gun. I figured it would be better not to argue anymore.

“With brute force,” he said with a laugh. He put my piece of shirt into his jean pocket, revealing the gash.

We quickly walked to the checkpoint and went around the back of the building. It, just like the bus stop, looked super old. The light yellow paint was chipping off of the building, much of the roof’s wooden beams were chewed up, and everything was dusty and cracked. Most of the windows were broken, signifying violence?

Frank put a finger to his lips and crept to the back door, even making sure his boots didn’t make a sound. He took hold of the rusty doorknob and turned it ever so slowly, just slightly making a creak. He pushed the door open while staying out of the doorway, and then decided to creep in, motioning for me to follow with his hands.

I held the gun up, ready to shoot a Drac if one came out. Frank walked in and I followed. We appeared to be in a storage closet. There were rusty shelves of steel containing hundreds of boxes, big and small, and a bunch of junk. There was another doorway with a small square window, which probably led into the main area of the building.

Frank went forward, trying the door handle. It was locked.

He searched around for something in one of the shelves, probably something to open it. The ironic thing was that the building was completely open in the front, yet we were going through all this trouble just to break into it from the back.

I pushed a hand through my dark hair, and a light bulb clicked!

“Frank!” I whispered. “I have something that will work.”

He turned around with questioning big eyes. I reached into my hair and took out two bobby pins.

“Oh, thank God!” he whispered back. He took the bobby pins and went straight to work on unlocking the door while I stood watch.

Once the door creaked open, Frank stood back against the wall and we started to creep forward. Once we got through the doorway, we saw that no one was around. It was dark and dusty. Every footstep we made stirred up whirlwinds of dust around our feet.

I looked back at Frank and he had a serious look on his face. He started creeping over to aisles in the corner of the building. I followed closely, keeping the ray gun poised to shoot.

CLONK!

We shot for the source of the clatter and I darted in the aisle with my gun pointed and ready—only to see someone with a ray gun pointed right back at me.

I gasped and lowered my ray gun. “Party Poison?” I asked. It was him! He was wearing a yellow mask, but it was him, alright.

His steely gaze softened into a grin. “You guys made it!” he exclaimed as he lifted the mask above his head.

“Of course we did!” Frank replied as he came up from behind me and briefly hugged Party Poison—or Gerard. I keep forgetting…

“Glad you guys are okay!” Jet Star—or Ray, I think—said as he came back from the other aisle. Mikey followed from behind him and he had a complacent look on his face. They all made a group hug. I just stayed here. Being awkward.

“Jesus, Frankie, what the hell happened to your face?” Gerard asked him, sounding concerned.

“Just a scratch,” Frank replied. I rolled my eyes.

“That doesn’t look like just a scratch,” Mikey remarked.

“Holy shit!” Ray exclaimed.

“You look like you got in a fight with the Joker!” Gerard laughed nervously. His eyes betrayed his worry, though.

“Don’t make such a big deal of it. I’m fine. Stellar held her own out there. I was impressed,” Frank looked back at me, his lips curving up.

The rest of the killjoys looked back at me. I noticed Mikey smiling. I just looked down. I wasn’t a hero or anything, and that gash on Frank’s face was my fault.

“I didn’t really do much…” I said. “If it wasn’t for Frank, I’d be dead.”

Frank flattened his lips. “Come on, don’t act like you didn’t just ghost two Dracs within thirty seconds.”

“Stop being so modest! You’re even holding Frank’s gun like a badass right now,” Gerard told me.

I made a small laugh. Me, badass? Yeah, right.

“Well, enough about me, I think you should check out Frank’s face. It was a laser,” I told them, so they could stop talking about me. I met eyes with Frank. His looked dark. He looked like he didn’t approve of me. Why?

The Killjoys looked back at Frank, and Mikey told him, “Come on. I gotta stitch that up. There should be plenty of supplies in here.”

We all split up to check out the building, which was actually a tourist stop/convenience store. Mikey went with Frank to find first-aid supplies, a needle, and thread; Ray went to stock up on food; and I got stuck with Gerard looking for pretty much anything else we might need. I really wish they had let me gather things by myself. I needed the time alone to gather myself. But no, they had to keep treating me like a kid…

At first Gerard and I were quietly gathering things, like flashlights, matches, and toilet paper.

“So tell me about yourself, Stellar,” he told me as he looked through old fishing gear. Who needed fishing in a desert?

“Um…what do you want to know?” I asked. I could not think of anything to say for the life of me.

Gerard laughed, “I dunno. What do you do for fun?”

I raised an eyebrow. “Fun?” I repeated with a laugh. The last time I remembered having any real fun before meeting these guys was when I was 16. Hobbies weren’t exactly a thing you could afford to have if you were a Killjoy on the run.

I couldn’t think of anything to say. Gerard’s eyes softened behind those stray red strands of hair.

“Maybe that was a stupid question to ask,” he told me. He started walking down the aisle and stopped at the end, examining some type of outdated gadget that would probably be useless to us here.

I feel bad. But living in Battery City, you were only allowed to have good, “clean” fun. Which meant you were subjected to a plethora of pills to keep you from actually having a personality.

Music was banned—real music, anyway. Couldn’t have any influence of emotional, immoral, or imbalanced singers changing the youth to become reckless vandals and eventually criminals. I remember the great extermination of guitars, pianos, drums, violins—basically any instrument you can think of was either burned or welded into something Better Living Industries could use for the greater “good”.

No novels—didn’t want anyone getting any crazy ideas now… We weren’t even allowed to write. Everything had to be done through a computer—that way our conversations, our relationships, and our thoughts could be monitored easily. This was why so many of my friends disappeared. This was why I stopped using anything electronic. This is why me and my sister decided to leave.

The only thing they couldn’t take away was our voices. But anyone caught singing in public was arrested. For violating domestic peace. And if you said something wrong to the wrong person, you violated the code of respectful conduct. Free speech was a thing of the ancient world now. But that didn’t stop us from speaking out and rallying a group to get out of Battery City.

Maybe if I had explained all of this to Gerard, he would understand why I couldn’t think of anything I did for fun. It was impossible to have fun in Battery City. And the only things I did for fun now were talking to Killjoys when luck let me, stealing that old man’s guitar, looking for stars at night and finding flowers in this barren land. And one other thing…

“I like to make stories,” I quietly answered to Gerard while clearing my throat.

“What?” he asked, turning his head to face me.

I blushed. “I like to make stories… In my head. Or when I’m with people, I tell stories. It’s fun. Keeps me busy.”

He grinned at me. “I like telling stories, too. What kind of stories do you usually tell?”

I answered, “Oh, well… all kinds of stories, really. They have to be funny, though, at least in some parts. I like laughing. And making people laugh.” I looked down in embarrassment. I probably sounded like a loser, but I was trying…

He laughed quietly. “That’s great. Maybe you could tell us all a story tonight,” he told me with a smile. “I’m kind of a storyteller too, or was. I used to make comics.”

“Comics?” I asked.

“Yeah, y’know, with drawings in the panels, bubble dialogues, superheroes—you know, like X-men, Batman or Spiderman.” He looked at me in earnest, waiting for me to share in his excitement. But I had never read a comic in my life. I had heard of Batman and Spiderman—from cartoons and movies, but that’s it.

“Oh…” was all I replied with.

“Man, what did they do to you kids in Battery City?” Gerard said aloud more to himself than to me.

“Ow! Fuck!” Me and Gerard turned toward the source of the cursing.

“Hey, you said you were okay with me doing this!” I heard Mikey say.

“Yeah, but I didn’t think it would hurt so fucking bad…” I could hear Frank complaining.

“Look, I’m gonna keep going. So try not to talk because that will just make this ten times as hard.”

Gerard and I walked over to see Mikey bending his head over Frank’s face, the side with the laser wound facing up as he rested his head on a counter. They managed get a bright lamp to focus on Frank’s face. A pile of bloodied bandages lied on the counter as well, next to bottles of rubbing alcohol and iodine. Mikey had taken off his gloves and jacket, revealing skinny porcelain arms steadily hovering over Frank’s face. He was carefully stitching a thread through the cut.

I grimaced, even though I couldn’t really see anything. Gerard let out, “Oh God…” and turned away.

“Are you okay?” I asked him.

“I don’t like needles…” Gerard said with an uncomfortable face. His eyes were wide and his face looked pale. I could hear Frank make a high pitched laugh and then an “ow”.

“I’m gonna keep looking for stuff,” Gerard said just before he briskly shuffled back into the aisle.

I decided to stay. I was more interested in seeing what was going on with Frank.


	5. Chapter 5

I walked over and stopped just a couple feet from Mikey and Frank. Then I hoisted myself atop the counter so I could have a better view.

“Oh God, who is that? Stellar?” Frank groaned. His black hair was pushed back far from his face. I can almost imagine what he looked like with short hair.

“Do you not want me to be here?” I asked.

“No, it’s fine,” Frank answered. Mikey looked toward me and winked. I smiled in return. Man, I missed that dork. He turned his attention back to Frank, his brow furrowed in concentration.

I saw the black thread go through the slit pieces of Frank’s skin so slowly, it tugged at his cheek. It looked like it hurt. Frank kept his eyes closed and his mouth shut tight, with his jaw clenched hard.

Mikey had to keep his left hand over Frank’s cheek to make the gap as small as possible while he threaded through with his right hand. His long, skinny fingers were incredibly nimble and accurate. For some reason, I wondered what instrument he played in the band. Since Jet Star—or Ray—played guitar, and Frank said he played guitar, maybe Mikey played bass? I couldn’t imagine him singing and he was far too scrawny to be a drummer…

“You guys are too quiet…” Frank muttered.

“Hey, no talking! I don’t want to screw this up. You’re almost done…” Mikey reprimanded Frank.

I started swinging my dangling legs from the counter. I didn’t know what to say. I was too intrigued by Mikey’s medical skills. I was also glad to see that although the gash was wide, it didn’t reach all the way to Frank’s ear as I had previously thought. And it looks a lot skinnier when stitched up.

After Mikey finished sewing the end of the stitches from Frank’s mouth, he rubbed some ointment on top of it and I helped to bandage Frank’s cheek with gauze and tape. I’m sure my hands were shaking noticeably as I tried to do it as gently as I could. He had opened his eyes by this point, and kept them on my face the whole time. It was awkward.

“There you go,” I exhaled as soon as I was done. We finally met eyes. I had never noticed how pretty his were. They were very green and deep. It felt like he was staring into my soul. I looked away quickly, picking up the trash on the counter.

“Hey,” Frank told me as he instantly grabbed my wrist. I didn’t want to look at him.

“Look, I know you’re beating yourself up about this,” he pointed an inked finger at his cheek. “But I don’t want you to. It’s not your fault.”

I didn’t say anything.

“And I got a sweet scar out of it, so look on the bright side,” he continued to tell me. I hesitantly met his eyes, his face smiling stupidly—don’t be proud of having a scar, idiot!

I just sighed. Mikey was still there, and looking at me with a sympathetic expression.

Frank giggled. “You take things way too seriously, Stellar. I’m an old man; I don’t need a pretty face. Besides, I’d choose a hideous scar on my face over a _dead you_ any day.”

I managed to make a small smile. “…Thank you. For saving my life from that laser. I should have said it more properly a long time ago. Thank you, Frank.” Aw crap, I can feel the waterworks coming…

“You’re very welcome,” Frank warmly replied. He stood up and added, “I suppose I’ll go check on Gerard, make sure he didn’t faint from the sight of my operation.” He giggled as he stalked off.

I was about to get off the counter myself when Mikey interjected, “Hey! You’re not leaving.”

I bent my eyebrows at him.

“Don’t give me that look,” he said sternly. He had a slight frown on his face and his eyes had a dark glare to them. But I’m sorry, as angry as he could be, it was too sweet-looking for me to actually believe it. I had to hold in a giggle.

“I still have to take care of you. Plus, you’ve got a slew of new scrapes for me to look over,” he continued with a hard look.

“Fine, doctor…” I said while crossing my arms. Although I had to admit, as much as I hated being taken care of, I didn’t mind being taken care of by Mikey.

He gradually smirked as he pulled a chair and sat in front of me. “You’re arguing less…” 

“Let’s just say that I learned it saves time…” I answered.

Mikey leaned the lamp over to my knees. He made me take off my dusty, worn out Chuck Taylor’s and fold up my jeans over my knees. It hurt like hell. He gently picked up my legs, one at a time, and examined the new scrapes I got from tumbling down those dunes. I had one nasty cut that curved from my right ankle around the back of my calf.

“Does that hurt?” Mikey asked.

“Not really,” I answered. It was pretty big, though. I’m surprised I didn’t feel it happen—of course, I suppose I was too busy getting beat up around the rest of my body at the time.

Mikey reached up to my right knee and untied the scarf around it. I looked around. It’s so quiet and dark everywhere else in contrast to the spotlight on my leg, that it feels like it was just the two of us in the shop.

Mikey reached to his left and took a cotton ball to the brown bottle of iodine. Aw, shit.

“This is going to hurt. Sorry,” he told me with the sweetest look on his face.

“It’s okay,” I told him, bracing for the pain. He took my leg in his left hand and held it against his chest—probably to keep me from kicking out at him again—and slowly poured a bit of iodine to my knee cap.

It burned. It burned bad. I gritted my teeth and held onto the counter’s edge tightly as he quickly took the cotton ball to clean up the wound. He had an intent look in his eyes as he did this and took a small breath as he yanked a small rock out of the middle of it.

“Gah!” I couldn’t help but wretch out.

“I’m sorry,” Mikey softly apologized.

“No, it’s okay. I had no idea that was even in there,” I said with a breathless laugh. Oh God, I think I’m going to pass out. This time, Mikey took a roll of gauze and wrapped it around the knee, taping it tight and secure.

At that moment, Jet Star came over. He had a bunch of cans of food, bags of chips, and other sorts of food packed in his arms. “Hey,” he greeted us with a smile. “Whatcha guys up to?”

“Mikey’s being my doctor again,” I told him as Mikey decided to shine the light on my face. I squinted my eyes at this.

“Mikey, you told her your real name?” Jet Star asked, sounding surprised. He set his pile of food on the counter. I finally noticed that now he was only wearing a white t-shirt, black jeans, and boots.

Mikey exhaled, “Well, technically Frank did, but yeah, she knows my name.” He paused. “We can trust her.”

Jet Star smiled and replied, “Then in that case, my real name’s Ray!” He held out his hand to me, like it was the first time we were meeting again. I decided to shake his hand.

“Can you take off your jacket?” Mikey nonchalantly asked me.

“Why?” I asked. He was asking me to take off my jacket—this doesn’t mean anything. Right?

“Just do it,” he told me with a straight face. Ray decided to lean against the counter and watch. I did as told, feeling a pain in my shoulder as I did so.

“Ow,” I softly muttered. That was a mistake.

“Where do you feel hurt?” Mikey asked. He genuinely looked worried.

“It’s just that when I took off my jacket, my shoulder felt like it was really sore.” I quickly added, “It’s nothing to worry about!”

“Nothing to worry about, my ass. What if it’s dislocated or broken?” Mikey interrogated.

Ray quietly laughed. “Calm down, Mikey. Don’t jump to conclusions so fast! Besides, if it was dislocated, she wouldn’t even be able to move her arm.”

Mikey made a slight pout and stood up. “When I tell you to, I want you to rotate your arm like this,” he told me as he demonstrated. He had his arm bent at the elbow and moved it forward and back. Then he stretched his arm out all the way, making circles with his palm.

I stifled a laugh, but then Mikey jumped on top of the counter, spun around, and dropped down to the other side. I can feel him standing behind me.

“Sit up straight,” he told me. Ray shook his head and laughed.

I did as told.

“Is it okay if I lift up the back of your shirt? I have to be able to feel how your scapula moves.”

“Of course it’s not okay! Everything’s fine,” I growled at him.

“Well, I’m gonna do it anyway,” Mikey replied with a chuckle. I felt him lift up the back of my shirt and he cautiously moved his hand up to the middle of my back. “Is it your right or your left?” he asked.

I swallowed and answered, “My right.”

“Geez, everything is happening on your right side,” Mikey said with a soft laugh.

I laughed back. Of course it was more of a nervous laugh since Mikey had moved his large, soft hand over to my right shoulder blade. He’s like 30 years old…he’s 30 years old… I shouldn’t be blushing at a guy like him touching my back… Of course, 10-11 years age gap isn’t that bad, right? I mean, I’m 19 so it’s legal…

“What are you gonna do?” Ray asked with a laugh.

Mikey ignored him again and told me, “Okay move your arm forward and back like I did.” I did as told. “Okay, now stretch out your arm and rotate…” I did that, too. “Okay, now shrug.”

I did that with a smile. Were we going to be doing this all day? Because it was fun. “Anything else?” I asked.

“Mmm, no. Your shoulder’s not broken or anything.”

Ray laughed.

“But it’s really red. You probably just bruised it really bad,” Mikey said as he hopped over to the other side of the counter again.

“See, I told you it was nothing!” I replied.

“Better safe than sorry,” Mikey muttered back. He went in front of me to face me. “You have a bunch of cuts on your face, though.”

“So what happened out there? I didn’t want to tell this to Frank, but he looked pretty fucked up,” Ray directed to me.

I looked down as Mikey started getting out the alcohol swabs. “Well…Frank woke me up, we ran, Dracs came after us, and I was going to get hit with a laser, but Frank jumped in front to save me. We were in between sand dunes, and when Frank pushed me out of the way, we both tumbled and got scraped up out there. And then I shot two Dracs and Frank got the other one.”

Mikey had started to clean all the cuts on my face, so I was wincing.

Ray had a sympathetic look in his brown eyes. “Oh… I’m glad you’re both okay. I was a little worried about Frank virtually handling three Dracs on his own. But that guy has a lot of fight in him. And so do you, apparently.” Ray kindly smiled at me.

I smiled. “Thanks. What happened with you guys?”

Ray took a deep breath. “Well, Korse came after us with four Dracs in tow. We had to try and outrun them with the car, and me and Mikey had a firefight while Gerard—Party Poison—drove.”

“Wow, and you guys don’t have a scratch on you! It must have been a quick fight.”

Mikey snorted. “Hardly…” He was now putting small strips of band-aids onto my cheek bones.

“How come?” I asked.

Ray answered, “We ran out of gas.” He shook his head and laughed.

“Oh…” I answered.

“And then Korse ran us off the road, crashed the car, and we nearly died! But by that time, there was only Korse and two Dracs left, so it wouldn’t be such a tough fight.”

“The only thing was that we had to run on foot from a car going about 60 miles per hour,” Mikey chimed in.

My eyes widened. How the hell did these guys escape?

“Lucky for us, Gerard is a good shot, and put holes in Korse’s tires, so he couldn’t chase after us anymore. And then the coward ran away on the back of one of his Dracs’ bikes.” Ray continued, “Of course, we were well ahead of the checkpoint, so we had to push the car back for about three miles to get here. But we couldn’t push it all the way back in case Dracs would be here to ambush us. So it’s still like a mile down the road.

“How did you not know about the gas being low?” I asked with a slightly raised eyebrow. You think they would have realized at least a little in advance…

“The Trans-Am _is_ pretty old!” Ray defended. “And the gas indicator is stuck, so we always have to tell the level by how many miles we’ve driven since the last time we got gas. I guess we were a little off this time, and we thought we would be able to reach the checkpoint before running out of gas—which we did.” Ray chuckled.

“Oh,” I answered. Wow, that must have sucked for them. “So how long did it take for you guys to get here? Me and Frank walked for almost two hours.”

“We got here just before you guys did, which was why we weren’t sure if a Drac had followed us or not when you guys broke in from the back,” Ray explained.

I nodded. Mikey had finished putting a band-aid on the side of my wrist when I noticed his tattoo for the first time. It’s on the inside of his left wrist and it’s a pretty ostentatious thing: a flaming heart-bottle thing with the word “FOREVER” scripted onto a ribbon around the heart. That was a bit shocking.

“You guys should start eating. There’s potato chips here that expired a few years ago, but they might still be good,” Ray cheerfully announced.

Mikey softly chuckled. “Sounds delicious. Hey, look up,” he directed the last sentence to me.

I looked up at the ceiling, which had tons of dust in its pipes and corners. It was really gross.

“Tilt your head back farther,” Mikey told me again. I did as told and felt him push back my hair from my shoulder. 

“I’m just going to clean all this blood,” he told me as took a rag and a bottle of water in hand.

“Blood?” I asked.

“Yeah, you have like splatters of blood on your neck and down there,” Mikey said as he pointed to my clavicle. I looked down, but couldn’t see and just felt for it. Sure enough, blood came out on my fingers.

It must have been from Frank’s face. “I can clean this up myself, Mikey. I think I’ve let you baby me too much already.” I hoisted myself off of the counter.

“Watch your—knee,” Mikey sighed. He looked a bit disappointed that I didn’t want to play the patient anymore.

The knee feels more comfortable now, but my feet hurt again. I have black socks on, so Mikey can’t see the damage done to my feet. I slipped my shoes back on, took the rag and told him and Ray, “I’ll go find a bathroom. I need to see how I look.”

They lightly chuckled and ok’ed it. I figure the bathroom would be at one corner of the shop, so I made my way around the floor, rag in hand. I think I saw Frank and Gerard out of the corner of my eye down one aisle, but I continued on to look for the bathroom.

I finally saw the old, faded blue sign with the little symbol of a lady in a dress on it. I opened the heavy door, and it creaked so loud. There’s a switch on the wall, so I flipped it up and the lights flickered on. Good thing the lights still work. And turned my view to the cracked, dirty mirror hanging on the graffiti decorated tile wall. The sink below it had a crapload of dead bugs inside it and the handles looked rusted.

I looked at myself for what must have been the first time in a week. I looked so different. I had cuts almost everywhere on my face. Mikey wasn’t exaggerating. But I laughed at the small band-aids on my face.   
My hair was messy, greasy, and darker than ever. My eyes looked tired. I looked pale. I wasn’t sure if it was just the light or the result of starvation and exhaustion. I looked just plain ridiculous with my shirt ripped from one side of my stomach. And these pants were so dirty and torn

I finally concentrated the dark red splatter of blood that went from my neck to my clavicle, the bruise around my throat from that Drac is red. I took the rag and turned the faucet knobs—after using great force. The water is surprisingly clear, although it wouldn’t be more than a thin stream. I first let the water go over my hands, then the rag, and started wiping away at the blood on my neck. This is so weird.

I decided to also take this time to use the toilet. I was so thankful for it I almost cried! It really sucks being a girl and being in the middle of nowhere. Don’t even get me started on periods… Speaking of hygiene, I wonder if there would be toothpaste, shampoo, or at least soap in the shop. Mouthwash, mints…if I’m going to be in close quarters with these guys, I can’t have the terrible breath that comes with being a runaway.

I slinked out of the bathroom and started looking for toiletries. Once I found some soap and shampoo, I heard Gerard call me.

“Stellar! What are you up to?” he asked, grin on his face. Frank is behind him.

“There’s running water in the bathroom.” I paused, wondering if I was being silly. “Which makes this a perfect opportunity to finally shower—well, sort of.”

Gerard smiled in response. “Man, I haven’t showered in so long…” he giggled. “I didn’t think of that at all.”

“Of course you wouldn’t!” Frank said with a chuckle.

Gerard shot an upraised eyebrow at Frank, but then conceded, “Yeah, I know…”

Frank giggled again as he looked my way. “So were you going to shower right now?”

“Not unless any of you wanted to shower first. I’ve only gone like four days without a shower. I can’t imagine how long it’s been for you guys…” I replied.

Frank and Gerard laughed. “Do we smell that bad?!” Gerard exclaimed with a high pitch in his voice.

I laughed. “No! Well…the truth is, I don’t know.”

“Don’t worry about it. I know we’re just a bunch of smelly old men. You should wash up,” Frank told me with a smile on one side of his face.

“Hey, Gee! Frank! We’re gonna go get the Trans-Am now,” Ray called to them.

“Are you sure you guys won’t need help?” Frank asked as he walked back down the aisle and met up with Ray and Mikey at the end.

“You’re staying here. You’ve had enough action for today,” Ray ordered Frank.

Frank raised his hands up in vexation. “Aw, come on, Ray! This is nothing!” He started walking past Ray but then Gerard put a hand on his shoulder, stopping him.

“Ray’s right. You should take it easy,” the red-haired man told Frank. “Aren’t you guys going to need help, though?” he directed to Mikey and Ray.

“I’ll go!” I exclaimed before anyone else could get a word in.

“You’re not going out there, Stellar. Stay here with Frank,” Gerard ordered me.

“No!” I argued as I put my hands on my hips. “I’m sick of you guys treating me like some toddler! I can hold my own out there, alright? Just let me help you for once…” I said this last bit with a bit of an exhale. Just so tired of being the rescuee all the time.

Gerard gave me a hard gaze as he had his hands on his hips too.

“Let her go.” I turned around to see that it was Mikey that said that. That’s a shocker.

Gerard looked at his brother in astonishment. “Mi-mikey?” was all he exclaimed.

“If anything happens, me and Ray will be there to protect her. But I think even then, we’ll be fine.” He looked over at me and winked. I grinned back.

“Well, that’s settled!” I said as I eagerly crossed the aisle to stand by Ray and Mikey. Frank looked down in frustration.

“You stay here with Frank, then,” Ray told Gerard. “We’ll need a fighter here as well, just in case. So don’t feel like you’re not doing anything…”

Gerard crossed his arms, obviously not pleased.

I hesitantly cleared my throat and told him, “Hey, I just want to help. And I’m too old to be taken care of like this, okay? I didn’t mean anything bad by it.” Gerard still looked down.

“Alright, we’re off then. We should be back by sundown,” Mikey said as he turned to leave.

I turned to leave, too, until I noticed I still had Frank’s gun hanging out of my jean pocket. I reached for it and held it out for Frank.

“Here, Frank—“ but I was interrupted as he put a hand over mine holding the barrel.

“You keep it,” he told me, making sure to look into my eyes as he said so.

“You sure you won’t need it? Mikey and Ray will have guns—“ I protested.

“Just keep it!” he said as he ruffled my hair up again. He then handed his gun sling to me.

“Fine,” I replied with a small grin. “You should wash your hair while I’m gone.”

He giggled. “Alright. I’ll make sure Gerard gets rid of at least one coat of dirt, too.”

Gerard smirked to the side of his mouth. “I’m not that dirty, am I?”

“You weren’t always this naturally tan,” Frank remarked with a laugh.

Gerard laughed as he looked down. Then he looked at me. “Just be careful. Really.” He really looked worried about me. “I’ll be pissed off if I have to carry your unconscious body again.”

So that was Gerard who had picked me up… I’m surprised he was that strong. Damn, why are my cheeks getting warm?

“It won’t happen again,” I quickly said as I turned away, in case I was blushing. I skipped to catch up with Mikey and Ray.

“Hey, wait up!” I called to Mikey and Ray. Mikey had just put his sunglasses on again.

“We wouldn’t leave without you!” Ray told me with a chuckle. I felt myself smiling widely. I can’t believe I actually get to go do something for once! Instead of running or hiding, that is…

Mikey opened the main door to the checkpoint building and the three of us stepped out into the harsh, hot world of the desert.


	6. Chapter 6

We walked for about thirty minutes until we finally reached the Trans-Am. Not that you could really tell with all the art and decoration on the car itself, but there was a pretty big dent on the left side just above the left rear tire. Nothing you couldn’t bang out with a sledgehammer.

“Well, no use lingering around. Let’s get this thing rolling!” Ray enthusiastically announced. He, Mikey, and I got to the trunk and started pushing. The car had been sitting in the sun all day, so when I touched it with my bare hands, it freaking burned me!

“Ouch!” I exclaimed as I quickly drew my hands up. I looked over at Mikey and Ray and noticed they were fine with the heat of the metal—because they were both wearing gloves.

I slowly put my hands back on the trunk. It still burned, but I wanted to help.

“Hey, stop for a second, Ray,” Mikey said. He started undoing the strap from his left glove, and I realized he was going to give it to me. My heart, he’s such a sweetheart.

Mikey slipped the glove off and handed it to me, while starting on his other glove.

“Wait, Mikey,” Ray told him. I looked back to him and he started taking off his right glove. These guys!

Ray handed his right glove to me with a big smile. “Here you go, Stellar.”

“Thanks, guys,” I said as I slipped on Mikey’s glove first, pulling it back as far as I could on my fingers. Even though mine were a bit long for a girl’s, there was a bit of room left in the gloves. I snapped the wrist-strap in place and slipped on Ray’s right glove much easier, although, that was a bit big for me, too. “I feel bad that you guys still have one hand to get burned, though.”

“It’s okay! We have rough hands, anyway,” Ray explained with a cheerful look.

“Yeah, it won’t hurt that much,” Mikey said as he put his hands to the metal again. I saw him wince a bit behind his black sunglasses, but it disappeared instantly. Ray put his hands back on the car, too, so I went ahead and braced myself so we could all start pushing.

We must have been going about half a mile per hour. This was going to take a while unless the ground started to decline on our way back. Mikey and Ray were doing most of the work, I had to admit, but I really was putting my all into it! I was even bending my knees and using my back muscles to help push this car along. After a while we had a pretty constant speed that was increasing gradually. Maybe we could get this car back in less than two hours!

For about five minutes, the three of us were silent, only the crunch of the dirt beneath our feet and the tires of the Trans-Am pervading the air. I looked over to my right at Ray. Out of all the Fabulous Killjoys, I knew the least about him. All I knew was that he used to play guitar with his friends in a band.

“So Frank told me you played guitar…” I started, breaking the silence.

Ray looked over at me with a sort of wistful look. “…Yeah, I did…”

“That’s cool! Frank also said that you played like a ‘Norse God’, whatever that means,” I said with a laugh.

Ray softly chuckled. “He would say that…”

“Ray’s a guitar genius!” Mikey excitedly tooted from my left. “You should hear him play.” He was grinning, showing off canines that looked like vampire fangs.

I looked back at Ray with a smile, but he didn’t look too happy. He was looking down. He looked sad.

“Is something wrong, Ray?” I asked cautiously. He looked back at me hesitantly, pulling a forced smile.

“Nah, it’s nothing.”

“Ray… what’s going on?” Mikey asked this time.

Ray was silent for a few seconds before answering. “I used to live for playing guitar. I never went a day without picking one up. Creating music was the thing that kept me living out in this hell on Earth, but all that’s over now.”

“Is it because of Better Living Industries? I know they had that one law when they destroyed all the instruments—“ I started.

“Not all of them,” Ray interrupted. “I was still able to hold onto mine. That is, until Korse got to us. That asshole fucking made a point to destroy my only guitar—just to spite us!” Ray slammed a fist down on the trunk, making both Mikey and I jump.

“I’m sorry, Ray…” I told him after I was sure he wasn’t fuming anymore.

He finally lost his frown and exhaled. He turned to me with a kind look. “It’s okay. We’re going to get revenge. We’re going to get Grace back and we’re going to destroy Korse. I’ll have a guitar again one day.”

I smiled at Ray. The way he talked about it, I believed him.

We continued to push forward for another hour or so before we came within sight of the checkpoint. At this point, I’m sure we were all worn out in our muscles, but we had to keep pushing forward. Just a little farther and we would be home—so to speak. 

“Getting tired yet, Mikey?” Ray asked with a grin.

 “Nope. You?” Mikey answered with a smirk.

 “Hell no!” Ray answered. And here I was, with my biceps dying… 

“How ‘bout you, Stellar?” Mikey just had to ask me.

“I’m fine…” I grunted. Both he and Ray laughed.

We finally got back to the checkpoint just as soon as the sky had turned purple behind all the cacti and mountains. We pushed the car just next to a gas pump, right outside the shop. Hopefully there was still gas here…

“We did it!” Mikey exclaimed as he put his lanky arms up in the air with his fists clenched.

I smiled. I was just glad to be back to civilization.

Ray accorded, “Fuck yeah, dude!” The two made a high five and Mikey went over to me with his hand raised in the air. I reached up and high fived him back. I had to stifle a giggle, though. They seriously acted like children!

A cool wind had started to kick up, so we hurried inside the building. It was so dark the guys had to take off their sunglasses.

I started to take off the gloves I borrowed. “Thanks again, guys. I really appreciate the gesture,” I told Mikey and Ray as I handed them back their gloves.

“Finally you guys are back! We were about to send a search party,” Frank called out as he walked toward us from the cash register. He had a goofy grin on his bandaged face.

“And you all are back in one piece, right?” Gerard asked. He had taken off his jacket by now and was wearing just a navy blue t-shirt along with his light jeans and boots.

“All here,” I answered with a smile.

Mikey walked toward him as he asked, “What, were you worried about us?” with a smirk on his lips.

Gerard just crossed his arms and answered, “I’m your brother. I always worry about you, Mikey.” Gerard’s eyes widened and he went silent. “I mean—aw shit. I just outed your name…” He looked at me nervously.

“It’s okay! I already knew.” I awkwardly shifted my eyes between Gerard and the floor. Of course, now that I thought about it, they had all referred to each other’s real names in front of me… so I don’t know why he was just realizing it now…

“It’s really all my fault. I started it because I didn’t want her calling me ‘Fun Ghoul’, so I told her my real name and then I told her Mikey’s,” Frank started with a giggle. “But come on, she’s cool. There’s nothing wrong with her knowing our true identities.”

“And I already told her my name,” Ray chimed in.

Gerard looked down and broke his intense stare. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. Sorry, Stellar. I didn’t mean any offense by it.” He looked up at me with an apologetic expression in his eyebrows.

“None taken,” I said while holding my hands up in front of me. “But I have to admit that I know your name is Gerard. I overheard you and Mikey talking last night.”

He made a weird giggle. “Well damn, I guess we’re all just really lousy at keeping a secret.” The others started chuckling.

Gerard came forward to me, extending his hand, “I guess I should introduce myself properly this time. Hi, I’m Gerard.”

I smiled sheepishly, but shook Gerard’s hand anyway. It was surprisingly soft. He was looking at me with this really genuine smile. It didn’t look creepy this time. It was actually a bit handsome.

I wondered if I should tell them all my name now. I mean, it was the polite thing to do, right? After all, they trusted me. And I trusted them.

I cleared my throat. “I guess I should tell you all my name, too.”

“Not if you don’t want to,” Gerard told me.

I paused. Why would he think there was a reason to not want to? Unless he had guessed right about me…

I shook my head. “No, I want to.” I turned my head to look at all the Killjoys, who patiently awaited my next words. “My name is Leya.”

“Leya?” Gerard asked. A smile creeped up on the side of his mouth.

“Yeah…” I answered.

“Like Princess Leia?” Mikey asked eagerly.

“Well…yeah, except…it’s spelled differently. It’s spelled L-E-Y-A. It’s Spanish.”

“Aw, so your parents didn’t name you after Princess Leia?” Gerard asked, looking disappointed.

Here it comes. “Actually…they did.” I sighed and blushed. “My dad’s favorite movies were the Star Wars ones, and sure enough they wanted to name me after Princess Leia. But my mom didn’t want to completely humiliate me, so she changed the spelling.” I nodded, feeling uncomfortable.

Frank giggled out of nowhere. “That’s fucking awesome!”

I cracked a smile. “Yeah, my dad was a big-time geek. He was into all that space, astronomy kind of stuff, too. I have to admit, some of it got passed down to me, hence my Killjoy name…”

“That’s really cool, though,” Ray told me with a kind look. “I wish my parents named me after like Han Solo or something.”

Mikey giggled. “You’d be Han Toro!”

They all laughed and I smiled with them. After we all quieted down, Frank put a hand up gesturing to the side with his thumb, “Oh, we washed up. I don’t know if you can tell,” he laughed. “But look at Gerard’s hair now!”

I looked at Gerard’s scarlet hair and it did look a bit softer now, less stringy. Frank’s also looked less oily.

“So if you wanted to, you can go wash up,” he continued. “That goes for you guys, too,” he directed to Mikey and Ray.

“Thanks, Frank,” I answered. Finally!

“Just one at a time, though. Don’t want any funny business going on…” Frank joked, squinting at Mikey and Ray.

Mikey creased his eyebrows in confusion while Ray gave a reproving glance at Frank. I just acted like I didn’t hear anything.

I remembered I still had Frank’s gun on me. I took my jacket off and removed the gun sling from my shoulder. “Thanks again,” I told him. He looked at me with bright eyes and took the gun this time.

“I’m just glad you didn’t need it,” he answered with a small grin from the left side of his mouth.

“How is your…” I pointed at my own cheek to symbolize Frank’s gash.

“Oh, this little scratch?” Frank waved his hand to his face with a flick of his wrist. “Don’t even feel a thing!”

I smiled. “Good.” I continued to stare at him, wondering how he could be real.  

“What is it?” Frank asked. He stared right back at me with a look of skepticism.

“N-nothing,” I said as I looked down with a grin.

Ray exhaled loudly as he stretched his arms out. “Man, I’m tired. Is there anywhere in this dump to take a nap?”

Mikey looked over at him with a grin. “And here I was, believing you weren’t even breaking a sweat pushing the car…”

“It’s not because of pushing the car! The sun…makes me tired,” Ray defended weakly.

Gerard snorted. “If I find a bed in here, I’ll let you know. Frankie and me found another room, probably an office or something, but the door was locked.”

“Yeah, and it’s gonna take more than a bobby pin to break it,” Frank muttered while he crossed his arms across his chest.

“Hmm, I’ll see what I can do about that. Lead the way!” Ray called out as he, Gerard and Frank started walking.

“Um…I guess I’ll go wash up now,” I announced. But only Mikey was still there to hear me.

“I can hold your jacket for you if you want,” he told me. I had been holding my jacket in the crook of my left elbow.

I looked up at Mikey, replying, “Thank you.” I held out my jacket for him, and he gently took it from my hands, brushing his palm over my hand during the transfer. All my nerves seemed to act up at that. Fuck. Why do I keep having these stupid reactions to him?

“You’re welcome.” He had a smug smile on his lips before he continued,”…Princess Leya…” And then he made the geekiest snort.

I rolled my eyes at that while breathing out a laugh. “Whatever, _Kobra Kid_!”

Mikey was now giggling with delight, a big smile revealing those impeccable teeth again and his hazel eyes squinting almost until his eyes closed.

I awkwardly shuffled away to go get the toiletries I had gathered earlier that day. It had grown dark in the shop now and I overheard Ray say, “Can we find the light switch in here?” Frank replied with a resounding giggle.

I finally made my way over to the bathroom. Gerard and Frank left bottles of shampoo and a bar of soap in the sink. I was a bit surprised to find that the floor had puddles of water and grime smeared just below the sink. God, these boys were dirty…of course, they’re not really boys now, are they?

I made sure to lock the door. Not that I was worried about any of the guys barging in on purpose, but I didn’t want to chance an awkward situation arising.

I took off my pants and shirt, which really were 50% dirt now. I tied my hair back and turned on the faucet, rinsing a towel under the running water. I brought the bar of soap to the towel and started the cleansing. It felt so good to be able to wipe off all that dirt and blood. And to finally be able to shave again! I wanted to cry because of that. I had grown accustomed to being “all natural” for a few days at a time, but it was still so hard. Especially being with a group of guys now…

After ten minutes I was done washing up. I had taken a small bottle of mouthwash with me since I couldn’t find toothpaste. I think it was supposed to have expired, but at this point I don’t really care. The chemicals can’t be worse than what you had to take in Battery City.

I had to put my dinky clothes back on, which I tried to clean up a bit with soap and water. I made do with wearing the slightly damp clothes and walked out of the bathroom, my hair dripping all over the place. I just shook it out as I walked back, hoping to run into someone soon.

_“Ooh, I’ve been running on this dusty roooooad!”_

The words had blared out of nowhere! My heart went into overdrive because it was so loud, and it seemed to come from all over the building. Wait… this was music. It sounded so familiar…

_“The wheel in the sky keeps on turning…”_ It’s a nice beat. I love the singer’s soulful melodies. And those guitar chords… Where had I heard it before…?

Frank had come running over to me just when I started to think about it. “Hey! Check it out! We got that door open and there was a CD-player hooked up to speakers around the shop! The owners of this place had pretty sweet taste in music!” He grinned widely.

I smiled back as we both stood and listened to the song. Once the chorus started up again, it hit me…

_“What’s the wheel in the sky?” I asked._

_“It’s a metaphor. He’s talking about time. Even though he’s on this journey trying to get home, he keeps going. Even though the sun comes up again and again.”_

_I smiled. “I like this music, Dad.”_

_Dad laughed. “You do?”_

_“Yup!” I bobbed my head up and down._

_“Here, let’s listen to another song…” Dad pushed the button and a new song started. There were piano notes starting…_

_“Who is this, Dad?”_

_“It’s Journey.”_

_And we continued our roadtrip to Shasta Lake for another two and a half hours…_

“…Leya? Are you okay?”

I snapped out of it to see Frank looking at me with those big, puppy dog eyes.

“What? Sorry, I guess I zoned out,” I replied.

He still looked at me with those upturned eyebrows, reaching to put a hand on my shoulder.

“Hey, you can tell me anything,” he told me with a soft voice.

It was then that I realized my eyes had been watering. I sniffed and rubbed my eyes.

“No…I’m fine…Really.”

Frank kept a hand on my shoulder. “What is it? You don’t like Journey?” He said this with a crooked smile and a laugh.

I managed to laugh with a sniffly nose. I shook my head and then looked up at Frank.

“It just made me think back to when I went on a road trip with my dad. I think I was like eight or nine. We were going camping and the whole way there, we were listening to all his favorite music. That’s when I discovered Journey properly for the first time.” I looked down, trying to inhale air as if that would stop the feelings.

Frank made a sad smile at me. “Come here,” he said as he pulled me to him. Damn it, this just made things worse.

Despite my will, I started to cry again. I tried to breathe out, but each breath I took seemed to bring in more emotion. I started to sob into Frank’s chest as he stroked my back.

“It’s okay…” he softly whispered to me, resting his chin on my head. I’m surprised he’s tall enough to do that.

I cried out harder, just letting it out. I held onto Frank, hoping that somehow the sorrow would leave my body if it transferred through all my strength.

Frank was kind enough not to pry. He was just there for me. It was so selfless and wonderful of him. He didn’t even care that I was soaking his shirt with my tears and my wet hair.

After a few minutes, I stopped crying and finally quieted. Frank rubbed my shoulders and asked, “You good now?” I nodded up and down yes.

“Great! Maybe now we can get Mikey to take a bath. That boy hardly ever showers when he even has the opportunity to!” Frank laughed.

I smiled as he and I turned to walk where he came from. He kept an arm hugged around me.

_“And the lights go out in the city…”_ the speakers blared. We made our way to that office, and the lock was actually taken off—with power tools from the looks of it. The office is tiny, cluttered with junk, and kind of gross-looking.

Gerard and Ray are sitting in two burgundy swivel chairs while Mikey is sitting atop the desk next to this machine that seemed to play the CD. They were all bobbing their heads to the music and Gerard was saying something along the lines of “…we should do something like this. Another ballad…”

“Mikey wouldn’t still have to whisper into our ears as we slept to get it done, would he?” Ray remarked with a laugh.

“Naw… I know to listen to this one all the time now,” Gerard said, pointing to his little brother.

“Damn straight…” Mikey replied with a confident smirk.

“Yo Mikey, it’s your turn to go take a bath!” Frank called to Mikey. The blonde looked up and the smile disappeared from his face.

“Why doesn’t Ray go first?” he asked, trying to make it sound like he was being generous. But I could see right through him.

“You know how long it’ll take to wash my hair? You’re better off going first, buddy,” Ray answered.

Mikey pushed his bottom lip up into a pout.

“Go, stinky-ass!” Frank told him with a giggle.

“I don’t stink!” Mikey retorted.

Gerard laughed. “Come on, Mikey. Even _I_ went and washed up.” He seemed to demonstrate this as he put a hand through his red hair, flicking it off to the side.

“Ugh, fine…” Mikey surrendered. He took off his jacket right there and hopped down from the desk. He walked past me and Frank, muttering something on the way. I held in a giggle.

Frank immediately went over to the desk, picking up what appeared to be a booklet, filled with CD’s. Man, this place must have not been used for at least a decade…

I started wringing out my hair with my hands. I wonder if there was a brush somewhere in this place…

“Hey, if you need a comb or brush, I picked one up,” Gerard told me as he held out a black, plastic brush with plastic bristles.

“Oh, thanks!” I answered as I took it from him.

He smiled back at me. “Sure thing.”

While I started brushing my hair, Gerard continued, “Hey, that’s a really sweet jacket you got there.” He pointed to the desk, where it was lying. “If only I could fit in it, I’d probably try and jock it from you,” he giggled.

“I would never let you take it,” I said with a steady gaze while keeping it non-serious.

“Oh, I wouldn’t ask for your permission,” he told me with a devilish look in his eye.

I laughed. “What’s so special about it anyway?” Even though the only reason it was special to me was because it was Krys’s, which she let me borrow the night of our—well, my escape.

“It’s hot! Real leather, nice popped collar, six pockets…and just the way it’s seamed…” Gerard put his head down with a sheepish smile. “Sorry, geeking out a bit here.”

I giggled. “It’s okay. It is a pretty nice jacket. Which is why I wear it all the time. Well, that and my lack of a wardrobe.”

“Ooh! Check it out, Ray… Carpenters, Bread, Styx…” Frank giggled. “They got some Queen, and…” Frank put a palm to his heart. “Celine Dion.”

Ray laughed and scooted his chair over to the desk next to Frank. “No chance of getting any Hendrix in there?”

“Maybe… There’s a bunch of mixes in here,” Frank answered.

I was still brushing my hair as I went to stand over by Gerard. He was writing on a pad of paper.

“What are you writing?” I asked, hoping I wasn’t being too intrusive.

“Oh, just… lyrics. Listening to Journey got me thinking about music again.”

“Can I see?”

Gerard protectively laid his wrist onto the pad. “Well… it’s not finished yet. My lyrics usually come out better when written to a beat anyway.”

“I’m sure they can’t be that bad. Could I please see?” I asked as I leaned closer to Gerard.

He looked like he was blushing. “A-alright… But don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

I took the paper and read in scrawled, messy writing:

 

_Where will you stand?_

_When all the lights go out across the city streets_

_Where were you when all of the embers fell?_

_I still remember them_

_Covered in ash, covered in glass_

_Covered in all my friends_

_I still think of the bombs they built_

I wish I could hear what it sounded like in his head. “These aren’t bad. I wish I could hear how it’s supposed to be sung,” I told Gerard.

He wryly laughed. “Oh, I don’t know how that would sound. I need a guitar or something at least to accompany me. And as you can see, there are no instruments in sight.”

I looked around me, to see if there were anything I could use to make a beat. I decided to pick up a pen from the desk and a glass jar from behind me on a shelf.

I started tapping the jar with the pen to a four-count beat. A moderate speed. “Can you sing to this?”

Gerard looked at me with a skeptic eyebrow. “Well…yeah…” he answered.

“Come on then!” I said excitedly.

He looked up at me with a stare from those green eyes. It looked like he was piercing my soul for a second. Then he looked down and sighed. “Okay,” he muttered.

I kept playing the beat and Frank and Ray turned off the CD-player to pay attention to us,.

“Where, where will you stand…” Gerard started to sing along to my taps. His voice was pretty good. After he got to the end of what he wrote, he started making up words. “If there’s a place that I could be, then I’d be another memory… And if we can’t find where we belong, We’ll have to make it on our own, we’ll face all the pain, take it on, because—“ and then he stopped. Just when it was getting really good!

“Wow, that sounds really good,” Frank remarked.

Ray added, “Yeah, Gerard. I’m surprised you could come up with that this late in the game.”

“It was nothing that special really. I made up the last few lines just now…” he said, being modest.

I had felt shivers going down my spine as I heard Gerard sing. “You’re a really good singer,” I told him.

“Aw. Thank you,” he said, looking down in bashfulness.

“You can’t think of anything to finish the chorus?” I added.

He sighed. “Well, I want to end that chorus strong, you know?”

“Well, who are you singing to?” I asked. Audience was always key in writing.

He looked down and folded his hands. “Well, this song could be for anybody. You know, when I write a song, I want it to be for everyone to relate to. I don’t want it to just be about me.”

“But when you were writing it, who were you talking to?” I asked again.

“Well, all of the people I care about. My friends, other Killjoys, Mikey, my wife, and…my daughter.”

My eyes widened. “You have a daughter?!” I exclaimed.

“Yeah. But I had to keep her safe, so she stayed with her mom.” Gerard’s face had become melancholy.

So he’s a father. This fact coupled with the Journey resurgence, made me think of my father. And stupid Star Wars. Stupid Princess Leia. What was that famous line she said? Something about being “the only hope”? You are my only hope? My only hope is you? I’m pretty sure Gerard might know. Of course, now he seemed to just be sulking.

“I’m sorry I brought that up,” I told him.

“Don’t be. It’s fine.”

“But this song is for your daughter?” I asked, cautiously.

“Yeah, for her when she grows up. In case…I’m gone…” Gerard said with a serious look in his eye as he stared at the pad of writing paper.

I looked at him sympathetically.

“I just—I don’t ever want her to lose hope. Even if she ends up having to face this world on her own. I want to be that source of hope for her. If I can’t be there with her physically, I just want her to know I’ll always have hope in her, and she can take that to heart and keep going on without me.” Gerard then looked up at me, with what looked like pain in his eyes.

“I think I might have come up with a way to end that chorus!” I excitedly told him. It was a coincidence how he was talking about hope when I was just thinking about Star Wars.

Gerard smiled at me. “What is it? Here, write it down.” He gave me his notepad.

“Wait, I can’t remember what you were singing before…” I told him.

Frank inputted, “It started with, ‘If there’s a place that I could be’” He had his chin in his hand as he sat on the desk, watching us come up with this song.

“Would you mind singing again?” I asked Gerard with my puppy dog eye routine.

“Sure,” He replied with a toothy grin.

So I started making that beat and he finished up to the end of where he went last time, so I started writing.

_Face all the pain and take it on_

_Because the only hope for me is you alone_

“You know, I think we should make your chorus a bit longer. But I added in these lyrics just after ‘Then I’d be another memory’.” I showed Gerard what I scribbled.

_Can I be the only hope for you?_

_Because you’re the only hope for me_

“Oh wow, that sounds good. You should sing your portion,” Gerard told me.

My face grew hot. “Me, sing? I… well, I can’t…”

“Of course you can!” Gerard told me.

“Well, I haven’t really sung in… forever…” I told him.

Frank butted in, “Come on, Leya. How else are we supposed to know how your lyrics go?”

Gerard stood up to be next to me. “Here, I’ll sing my parts and you just sing your parts.” We held the notepad, each of us holding one side with a palm.

Ray started the beat and Gerard sang until he got to the beginning of the chorus, singing relatively loud for the space we were in. He looked over at me, and I started to sing, “Can I be the only hope for you because you’re the only hope for me?”

My voice didn’t shake! And it wasn’t off key! And it wasn’t quiet either.

Gerard smiled as he continued. “…Face all the pain and take it on…”

“Because the only hope for me is you alone,” I full on belted out that last note. I blushed as I noticed Ray had stopped playing the beat, so it was just my voice in the air.

They were all quiet after. Maybe it was just my imagination that I didn’t mess up. What if I was horrible?

 “Was I bad?” I asked, wincing.

Their eyes all widened. “No!” Frank exclaimed with a bright look in his eyes. “Quite the opposite.”

Ray smiled at me. “That was really nice, Leya.” I smiled at him with a blush.

Gerard told me, “I don’t know if I could sing that high or that pretty,” with a laugh.

“Of course you can! It took all my effort just to make sure I didn’t crack,” I said with a sigh.

“It was still very pretty. I want to try your lyrics. How about you sing mine?” Gerard asked me.

I looked over at Frank and Ray. I was a bit bashful, but I conceded. “Oh-okay…”

This time, I had to start. “Where will you stand, when all the lights go out across the city streets…”

My voice is higher than Gerard’s, so it was hard for me to hit some of his notes, but the chorus was my strength. And when Gerard came in with my lyrics, and we went back and forth, it sounded pretty good. Almost like a duet.

When we finished, Frank started clapping. “I think you guys should just record this already!”

Gerard laughed. “If only we could…”

Ray added, “It would be pretty good, though.”

“Who’s singing?” Mikey had come barging into the office. His drenched hair was pushed over half of his face, the brightness of his blonde hair darkened almost to brown. His olive green shirt was lazily thrown on and his bare arms and exposed chest still had drops of water on them. That was a pretty quick wash for someone that hadn’t showered in a long time…

“Leya,” Gerard answered his brother.

“That was you?” Mikey asked, looking at me with big eyes.

I blushed. “Um, yeah?”

“Wow, you have a really pretty voice,” he told me.

“Thanks,” I said. I’m sure I had blushed even harder then.

“I think you and Gerard should try singing the lyrics, but alternate them a bit,” Frank suggested. He was really enjoying this.

“You’re writing a song?” Mikey asked his brother as he shook the hair out of his eyes.

“Yeah, it’s just a little thing I started. Leya helped.” Gerard continued, “So what do you say, Leya? Wanna sing again?”

“Um…okay,” I said again. This time we alternated every couple lines, and sang the last line together. Even I had to admit that it sounded good.

Mikey clapped his hands excitedly after we were done. “Oh my god! You guys are so good together!”

I smiled and looked down. “You’re not going to make us sing again, are you?”

Frank and Ray laughed. “Not if you don’t want to,” Ray told me.

“Good. I think I’m exhausted…” I answered them. They all smiled at me.

Gerard told me, “Thank you, Leya. I can’t remember the last time I wrote a song.”

I shrugged. “I was just thinking about Star Wars…”

Frank laughed. “What does Star Wars have to do with that song?”

I blushed. “Well, I was thinking about how Princess Leia says that one line… what was it… ‘You are my only hope’?”

“You mean to say that you’re named after Princess Leia and you don’t even know for sure?!” Ray asked me with a gaping mouth.

I ran a hand through my hair sheepishly. “Well… I never actually watched the movies. At least, I only did when I was little so I can’t remember them.”

All of the guys looked at me with huge gapes on their faces. “You are so deprived!” Mikey exclaimed.

“It’s okay, Leya,” Gerard said as he put a hand on my right shoulder. He was smiling down at me, looking more like he wanted to laugh.

I crossed my arms. “Can we just get back to listening to some Journey or something?”

Frank softly laughed. “Sure thing, Princess.”

I shot him a glare. “Not you, too!”

“What do you mean, me too?” Frank asked with a giggle as he turned on the CD-player again.

“Mikey called me _Princess_ Leya earlier…” I said, glaring at the blonde.

Mikey laughed. “Why do you have such a problem with it?!” His eyebrows were raised high.

“I don’t like being called ‘Princess’,” was all I answered them. “My dad used to call me that all the time just to make me mad.” I smiled, but then my face started to drop as I started missing him again.

I caught a look from Frank. It seemed like he wanted to say “Are you okay?” I just forced a small smile to him.

“You have issues with being a damsel in distress, don’t you?” Gerard asked me.

As a matter of fact, I did. Which was why I didn’t know how to answer and didn’t say anything back for a few seconds.

“But Princess Leia isn’t a damsel in distress, you know. She fights alongside Luke and Han and kicks ass!” he continued.

“Oh.”

“Yeah, she’s like you!” Mikey told me as he leaned against the wall in the office.

I smirked at this. I guess it wasn’t so bad to be named after Princess Leia now.

“Yeah, she’s an awesome character!” Ray told me. After that, he stood up. “I guess it’s about time I wash up, too. I’ll be back in a little.” He exited the room, after which I decided to take up his seat. Frank plopped down to sit next to me.

“So are you guys going to finish that song?” Frank alternated looks between me and Gerard.

I looked to Gerard. “Well, it’s all up to Gerard.”

Gerard sighed. “You know how I am, Frank. I want to have a full band jam to make it right. I think it would only reach its full potential like that. But,” and he looked over at me, “I am really proud of what Leya just helped me do.”

“It was nothing. Really,” I answered.

“So what’s the plan for tonight?” Mikey asked from his position at the wall. He kept having to push the hair from his eyes.

Gerard answered, “Well, we’ll sleep here, keep watch in case Korse comes around again, and fill up the car tomorrow. Keep making our way to Sweetwater Gulch.”

“You know how far that is from here?” Frank asked.

“If our map is correct, we should only be thirty miles east of it. So we should be able to get Leya there in time.”

My heart jumped. They were going to drop me off there. I felt a pain in my heart already.

“What’s in Sweetwater Gulch?” I asked, already knowing the answer.

“It’s a haven for Killjoys. They have the best security system around in this part of the Zones. Korse has never been able to infiltrate it. So a lot of Killjoys go there to regroup. I’m sure you’ll be able to stay there,” Gerard explained.

I looked down, feeling myself panic. This meant goodbye. I would never see these Killjoys again, and they would be on their way to Battery City, their fates uncertain.

“Don’t worry. You’ll see us again,” Frank told me as he put a hand on my shoulder. He was smiling at me, but I couldn’t find it in me to smile at him. I couldn’t even find it in me to lie and agree with that. But I’d only been with them for a little over 24 hours, and already I didn’t want to leave? I can’t let them see that.

“Maybe my sister will be there,” was all I said. It’s possible. She could be there. And there would be a ton of other people to get to know. But why was I so sad about this?

I caught Mikey staring over at me. He wasn’t smiling at all. Maybe he could see through me.

“Yeah! Maybe,” Gerard answered with a grin. I smiled weakly back.

“So this is our last night with Leya?” Frank said, looking down at me. I really didn’t want to meet eyes with him. It felt like we were already saying goodbye.

“…Yeah,” Gerard said with a sigh.

Mikey still didn’t say anything. We were all quiet for about a minute then, the sound of Journey’s power ballads filling the silence.

I stood up. “I’m gonna go see if there’s anything else in this place to entertain ourselves with.” I mustered up a smile and walked out the doorway of the office.


	7. Chapter 7

All I did for 15 minutes was look around the shop for more interesting things. I was surprised to see that there were magazines from 2015 still. Maybe that was when this place got shut down?

I looked over the headlines. “White is the new black!” “Color is out!” “Woman institutionalized due to conspiracy against government.” She looked no older than 18 years old.

This was when things started getting stupid. After the fires of 2012 engulfed the whole of Southern California and Better Living Industries rebuilt the place from the ground up. Of course, they had their hands on Hollywood, and with that, they had control of what the entire world would be influenced by—using movie stars, writers, and radio stars to send their corrupt message.

I put down the magazines. I gave up that bullshit life a year ago. Journey was still playing from the speakers, and I wondered what the guys were up to now. They hadn’t come out of the office and Ray is probably still washing up.

I started feeling tired all of sudden. My legs began to feel heavy, my eyelids started to droop, and I knew I had to sit down. So I took to the center of one aisle, sat on the dust-ridden linoleum, and leaned my head back against the row of small stuffed bears and coyotes. I decided to rest my eyes.

_“Just tell us your name and you will not be harmed.” The bald man had a creepy smile on his face as his black eyes dug into my soul._

_“No, never!” I shouted back._

_His smile turned into a frown and he raised his ray gun._

_Jax, Sniper, and Diamondback pushed themselves in front of me._

_“The only way you’re getting her is through us!” Jax shouted at the bald man. The evil man just smiled in return and beckoned his drones._

_“Very well,” he replied. All the Dracs raised their guns and fired._

_I couldn’t speak. I couldn’t move my feet. When all I really wanted to do was scream at the top of my lungs to save them._

_I felt their bodies collapse onto me, the blood seeped into my clothes._

_“Leya…” Diamondback whispered to me. “Count to seventeen and close your eyes—“_

 “Leya?” I felt a soft push on my shoulder. “Leya, hey, are you alright?”

I blinked open my eyes to see Ray’s kind face in front of me. I jumped in surprise and hit my head on the metal shelf above the stuffed animals.

“Ow,” I replied with a small laugh.

“Are you okay? I was worried you passed out again,” Ray told me with his curls dripping over his deep, brown eyes.

I made a small smile. “I’m fine, Ray. Thanks.”

“What are you doing down here?” he asked.

“I…fell asleep, I guess,” I answered with a blush.

He made a soft laugh. “Why are you here by yourself?”

Oh, right. It got awkward in the office and I went out here to escape.

“Um… I… I had to go to the bathroom, but then I remembered you were there,” I lied to Ray. He sat down next to me with a laugh.

“Sorry I took so long,” he told me.

“Oh, don’t apologize, Ray!” I quickly answered.

He smiled at me. “Okay.”

We were quiet for a bit.

“So what were you dreaming about?” Ray finally asked.

“Dreaming?” I echoed.

“Yeah,” he giggled. “You were frowning before I woke you up.”

“Oh,” I answered. “Can’t remember.”

“Well, maybe it’s a good thing. It didn’t look too pleasant,” Ray told me with a benevolent look.

I nodded in accordance. Except I knew what I was dreaming about. It was the same nightmare I had been reliving since the raid. That evil man’s face still haunted me…

“Do you still need to go to the bathroom?” Ray asked me.

“Oh. Yeah,” I replied.

“It’s all yours,” Ray answered with a smile.

“Thanks,” I said as I stood up to start walking over to the bathroom. It feels weird to be lying to him. Not just about what I was doing out here, but about my dreams. I’ve been sort of lying to all of them—withholding information, actually. But it’s better that they don’t know. They don’t need another reason to be worried about me.

Once I washed my hands again and opened the bathroom door, I was surprised to see Frank standing right outside, a smirk on his face.

My eyes widened and I started to ask—

“Follow me!” Frank said as he took a hold of my left hand. He dragged me along the aisles of the shop.

“Where are we going?!” I asked as we practically ran.

“Since this is your last night with us, we all decided to make it fun!” he answered with a wide smile.

How are they planning on doing that?

Frank dragged me all the way to the front entrance, where blustery winds were blowing warm dust everywhere. It’s dark, but I can still see the sand in the air. So much for being clean.

“Frank…what are we doing out here?” I called out to him over the wailing wind.

“Just keep following me!” he called back as he dragged me around the side of the building. He approached the wall, and placed his palms on it, searching for something.

“Alright! Found it!” he called back to me with a smile.

I lifted an eyebrow in confusion. I just watched Frank jump onto the side of the building, holding onto what looked like a ladder.

“Come on, lazy butt!” he told me as he stuck out his tongue at me.

I shook my head as I followed Frank’s lead and climbed onto the ladder myself. It blended into the wall because its faded white/yellow color was the same. Frank had climbed almost up to the roof when he started knocking on the wooden panels. What the hell was he doing…?

Just before I could say anything, the wall protruded, separating the panels like small doors. My eyes widened as I saw Frank get pulled into the open space. I just stayed on the ladder wondering what was going on.

“Get up here, Leya!” Frank poked his head out and held out a hand. I climbed up the ladder and I could finally see that this was like a secret door.

“What the hell is this?!” I exclaimed as Frank pulled me into the space. There was no graceful way of landing. I was half on my knees and half on my elbows as Frank reached out to pull the opened doors closed.

“Hi!” I heard Gerard tell me.

As I looked up, I could see him, Ray, and Mikey sitting upon white wooden planks stretching out into a wide area, probably just eight feet below the roof. It was lit up by a small electric lantern sitting in between the Fabulous Killjoys. They all had their jackets off and were sitting cross legged in a semi-circle.

“Are we in the attic?” I asked with a creased brow.

Gerard giggled. “Yeah.”

The others smiled and Frank plopped down next to me, saying, “Isn’t this awesome?!”

“We’re in an attic,” was all I replied with. I don’t get the significance. And why are they all smiling?!

Ray added, “We’re in an attic with loads of junk food!” Then he took a pile of bags containing candy, chips, chocolate—basically everything in the store.

“I don’t understand…” I started.

They all snickered while glancing at each other. What the hell was I missing because this all just seemed like some crazy scene from a  cartoon.

“Maybe this will help you get it,” Gerard said as he pulled out four bottles from his pocket. He extended his hand to me and placed the small bottles in my hand. I looked closely and saw that it was nail polish. There’s Teal, New York City blue, Hot Pink, and Acid-rain Green.

I looked up with a raised eyebrow. “Can you please just explain yourselves…?”

Gerard looked down as he guffawed, putting a hand to his mouth. “Not yet! Mikey, show her what you got.”

Oh God, don’t tell me Mikey was in on this insanity, too…

He reached behind him and pulled out a few pillows that looked like they came from an old, 1970’s sofa set, orange, brown, yellow colors and all. How did he have pillows? **_Why_** did he have pillows?!

I put my face into one of my palms. “What the hell are you guys doing?”

“Come on, Leya. Don’t tell me you’ve never been to a sleepover,” Frank told me with a sideglance as he gently pushed my arm.

“A sleepover…?” I asked, questioning their sanity.

“Yeah, you know, the thing that all teenage girls do,” Ray answered.

I looked down. How do I say this? “Um, I’ve never been to a sleepover.”

Their eyes all widened in disbelief. “You’ve gotta be kidding me…” Gerard told me with a backward tilt of his head.

“No, I’m not!” I answered. “Of course, I’ve heard of them. And I used to share a room with my sister, so that’s kind of like having a sleepover, right?”

Gerard giggled. “And here I was, thinking you’d be ecstatic!”

“You thought of this?” I asked.

“Well, Frank was the one who said we should do something fun. I thought having a sleepover type thing would be fun… ‘cause it would be normal for you. But apparently, it isn’t.”

I smiled. They did all this for me. Albeit a bit insane, it was nice.

“I can’t believe you’ve never been to a sleepover!” Ray exclaimed.

“Hey, it’s not my fault. My parents never liked me going to other people’s houses,” I explained.

“Why?” Frank asked.

“I don’t know… They wanted to keep me safe, keep me from getting into any trouble, I guess.”

“So you’re not too put off by the idea of a sleepover, are you?” Gerard asked with vulnerable eyes.

I shrugged. “Why not? I mean, you guys went through all the trouble…”

“Yes!” Frank exclaimed as he put a fist in the air.

“I think you guys are more excited about this than me,” I remarked with a laugh. Well, maybe Mikey was the one who looked the least excited. He was just sitting with a composed smile on his face tossing a pillow up and down.

“This is our first official sleepover too! Hell yeah we’re excited!” Gerard gushed. Mikey giggled at his older brother. I smiled. This is sure to be interesting.

“First, we got to get the music,” Frank explained as he went to one corner of the small space we set ourselves in and brought back a hulking, grey machine. He pressed one of the multiple buttons on it, and it opened up a covering, in which he inserted a compact disc.

“Is that a CD player?” I asked. I hadn’t seen one of these since I was about 8 years old.

“You know it…” he answered with a laugh. He pressed the play button and out blared an upbeat sound of guitars and drums. It was something from the 1980’s… my parents used to listen to this kind of music.

Frank grinned at the rest of us. “There, now the party’s started.”

“Leya, come over here. We’re going to give you a makeover,” Gerard told me with a grin.

I narrowed my eyes at him. “What?”

He laughed. “Come on… It’s completely conventional to do makeovers at sleepovers. Besides, it’s fun!”

I rolled my eyes. “You can’t be serious. How do you even plan on doing this?”

Gerard lifted up a clear pouch that contained a few makeup tools. “It’s cheap, but it’ll do,” he told me with a smirk.

“I think I’ll pass,” I told him, crossing my arms.

“Mikey, get Leya,” Gerard ordered his brother. Mikey quickly obliged and stood up in the small space, preparing to walk over to me. What, was he going to carry me over there?!

I uncrossed my legs and crouched backwards. “Mikey, don’t you dare…” I started.

“You better get up quick, then. We’re not taking no for an answer!” He said this with a fang-revealing smile.

I quickly stood up and raced over to sit next to Gerard. I promptly crossed my arms, glaring in front of me.

Ray laughed. “Pick your poisons!” he told us as he pushed the array of junk food closer to us.

Frank lunged forward and swiped potato-flavored crisps, that were supposed to be “organic”. I’m not sure how organic anything could be today…

“Leya, face me. I’m going to start with your foundation,” Gerard interrupted before I could even pick something to eat.

“You are far too eager to be doing this,” I muttered to him.

He sidled closer to me with the pouch in his lap. “I’ve never done makeup on a girl before. I sure hope this comes out alright…”

I breathed out a scoff. “You better not make me look like a clown!”

He laughed. “I won’t… I’ll try not to… Anyway, take off your jacket and move that hair out of your face.”

I did as told and patiently sat there while Gerard started to put this creamy foundation on my face.

“Did you even get the right color for my face?” I asked him.

“Shh, don’t talk. Keep your mouth and your eyes closed,” he told me just before I felt him gently brush the foundation pad over my eyelids, lips, and cheekbones. He blended it all in and breathed out a laugh. “This will be interesting…” he muttered.

“What are you doing to me?” I asked, somewhat concerned.

“Nothing bad. Right, Mikey?” Gerard asked his brother. Mikey looked over at me and nodded.

“It’s nothing too terrible.” He smiled.

I shot a glare at Mikey. “You better be joking…”

“Hey Ray, you should let me give you a makeover, too,” Frank chortled at his curly-haired companion.

Ray laughed, “Yeah, right. You’d make me look worse than Leya.”

“Shut up! I’m not making her look bad!” Gerard snapped at the snickering Killjoys.

“But Ray…your hair is so beautiful…” Frank had crawled over to Ray and started stroking his curls.

“Stop it!” Ray told Frank with a laugh as he pushed the small man away.

Frank simply launched back on Ray’s hair and chuckled out, “Just let me braid it!”

“No!” Ray pushed him off again. And Frank got back up again to take a handful of Ray’s hair. “Ugh! Fine! You’re so annoying sometimes, you know!” Ray laughed as he said this.

“Don’t worry, Ray. I’m gonna make you look fabulous,” Frank winked over at me as he said this. I laughed.

Gerard started to apply eyeliner on me now. I can’t even remember the last time I had makeup on. He had a very steady hand and an intent look in his eye as he moved the pencil on the edge of my eyelid. He switched pencils, and took a metallic, silver-colored one to line my bottom water line. I fought the urge to blink and close my eyes as he did so. I wonder what kind of look he was trying to give me.

The song changed on the CD player and started with an echoing guitar chord.

“It’s the Smiths!” Mikey yelped. I saw Gerard smile at this. “I can’t remember the last time I listened to a Smiths record!” He started to tap the floor next to him to the beat of the song.

“Yeah, this is a mix CD. Has a lot of eighties by the sound of it,” Frank answered while he braided a piece of Ray’s long hair.

“Do you like the Smiths, Leya?” Mikey asked me.

“I think so…” I answered. I’d definitely heard the voice before. And I liked the music. I’d probably heard other songs.

“You think so?!” Mikey exclaimed.  
  
“Well, it’s been a few years since I’ve heard real music, Mikey! You know, living in Battery City, it doesn’t exactly make it easy for you to do normal things or listen to music—especially old music!” I immediately regretted lashing out. It was just my frustration getting the better of me. Gerard’s eyes lowered.

Mikey was quiet.

I sighed. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to shout at you…” I said.

“No, it’s fine…” Mikey told me quietly, the excitement from his voice gone. “I got a little carried away.”

Damn it. I hurt his feelings. I was really good at that, wasn’t I? I turned around quickly. “Mikey, I’m really sorry! Please be excited. Don’t let me ruin it!”

Gerard muttered, “Uh, Leya, I’m not done with your face.”

I ignored Gerard and saw Mikey’s face lighten up. He looked up over at me with a warm gaze. “You’re not ruining it. It just means I’ll have to educate you about Morrissey and The Smiths.”

I smiled back at Mikey.

Gerard cleared his throat. “Leya, if you don’t stay still, your face is going to look like a Picasso painting.”

I smirked and turned back around. He now had a roll of tape in his right hand and purple eye shadow in his left hand.

“Okay, I’m just going to create this masking effect to make sure I get everything in the lines.”

“What are you doing?” I asked. I’m not amused by all the secrecy.

He laughed, the smile lines creasing at the edges of his eyes. “Wait and see! Close your left eye.” He then took strips of tape and started putting them over my left eyelid. After he finished putting about ten skinny strips on my face, he took the eye shadow in his hand and a skinny paint brush in the other. He started to paint over my eyelid and part of my forehead with a serious look on his face.

“You seem like you actually know what you’re doing…” I remarked.

He cracked a smile. “I used to go to art school.” He continued to brush the eye shadow in the area below my eye, tickling my cheekbones with it. I giggled as it tickled.

“Stop laughing!” he told me with a laugh of his own.

“I’m sorry! Can’t help it,” I replied. “Art school? Like… drawing, painting, all that kind of stuff?”

“Yeah. It was my first passion. It still is,” he answered as he started painting over my right eyelid now, but this time with dark grey eyeshadow. I have both of my eyes closed now.

“It’s starting to look cool now. When are you going to take the tape off?” Mikey asked.

“In a minute…” Gerard muttered. He was now drawing under my eyes with what must have been eye liner.

“Open your eyes,” he told me. He continued drawing under my eye.

“Ow! You’re pulling my hair!” I heard Ray complain.

Frank laughed. “Sorry. Hey man, you’re starting to look like Braveheart.”

“Braveheart?” Ray asked.

“Yeah, if his hair was really curly,” Frank laughed.

Mikey had come closer to me and Gerard to watch the makeover process. The red-head was now drawing over my eyelid, sweeping out to the side. I sure hope it didn’t look as chaotic as I thought it was. He took off the tape from my left eyelid with Mikey’s help.

“Ooh, this looks rad,” Gerard remarked. “You know, this is actually a lot easier doing it on someone else…”

“What do you mean by that?” I asked skeptically. Does this mean Gerard has done makeup…on…himself?

“It means exactly what you think it means,” Mikey told me with a giggle that slightly resembled his brother’s.

“Are you telling me you used to put makeup on yourself?” I asked Gerard.

He blushed. “Just for shows. And it wasn’t always that much makeup.”

Mikey laughed. “Define ‘that much’ makeup…”

“You guys were always sporting the eyeliner. Even outside of shows. Especially you, Mikey!” Ray chortled.

Mikey looked down. “It was always light…” he explained with a blush.

I smiled. “You mean all you guys used to wear makeup?”

Frank laughed. “You got a problem with that?”

“No… It’s just… weird, I guess…” I answered. I’m starting to think that maybe they knew more about being a girl than I did…

“Almost done…” Gerard told me under his breath. He traced over my right eyelid with the eyeliner. Then he switched to the scarlet blush and swept two quick lines across my cheekbones.

All the guys are watching now. “Don’t forget the lipstick,” Frank said with a smirk on his face.

“Of course I’m not forgetting it…” Gerard muttered as he took the utensil in question and started coloring my bottom lip with it.

“She looks so rad…” Frank exhaled.

Mikey nodded. “You’re gonna like it, Leya.”

Gerard finished coloring my top lip and then leaned back to examine his work. He breathed out profusely. “Okay… Mikey, get the mirror. I think I’m done.”

I anticipated what I was going to look like as Mikey reached over into this navy blue canvas bag to take out a small mirror, no larger than 5 inches in diameter. He hesitated before turning the mirror over to face me.

“You should put your hair down first,” he told me. I did so and then he quickly turned the mirror my way.

I gasped when I saw it. Gerard had made me beautiful. My face was pale, but not too pale, and my lips were done in a berry red shade, with the blush on my cheekbones accenting my heart-shaped face. The most impressive part was the eye makeup—the purple was in the shape of an eight-pointed star while the left side was a slim, angular sweep of black from my eyelid to the edge of my eyebrow. It made my eyes look more almond-shaped than they really were, almost like cat eyes. It looked like something I could only imagine seeing in an old fashion magazine.

“Whoa…” I let out.

“So, you like it?” Gerard asked.

I turned to him and said, “This is…awesome!”

“Not too much like a clown?” he asked with a snicker.

“I’ve never seen a clown look this good,” I joked.

They all stared at me for a good while without saying anything. I started to feel self-conscious.

“So now that the makeover’s done, what do we do now?” I asked.

“Oh you know, talk about boys, paint each other’s toenails, the usual…” Frank laughed as he put his arms behind his head.

The rest laughed.

“Really?” I asked, shaking my head.

“Well, we could have a pillow fight,” Mikey said as he took one of the small pillows he presented earlier. “That’s why I brought these…”

“A pillow fight?” I repeated, my eyebrows way up.

“Yeah! Haven’t you ever been in a pillow fight?” Ray asked.

“Yeah, when I was like five years old…” I replied.

“Oh, you’ve never had a pillow fight with us…” Frank said as he rubbed his hands together. What was that supposed to mean?

“Oh, so we’re going to play like that?” Gerard directed to Frank.

“You know it, Gee. Be prepared to feel the pain,” Frank answered with a keen look in his eye.

“This is going to be fun!” Mikey told me with a bright look. “We basically run around pelting each other with pillows. It’s like a warzone when we play.” He laughed at the end of his sentence.

“I don’t know… Getting pelted by pillows doesn’t sound like too much fun…” I answered.

“Oh, but it is… I’m so gonna get you back for this, Frank!” Ray told him as he pointed to his messy, braided hair.

“Don’t worry. We can be a team. That way, I’ll make sure no one gets you,” Mikey told me with a smile.

“That’s no fun…” Frank complained with a tilt of his head.

“Let them be a team for the first round. Then Leya will decide if she’s brave enough to get in on it,” Gerard said as he rose to his knees.

“Fine. That won’t stop me from going after you both with full force,” Frank directed at me and Mikey.

“Bring it!” Mikey told Frank with a twitch of his eyebrows.

“Alright! Follow me, everyone!” Gerard announced as he stood up with the lantern in his hand.

“You mean there’s a way to get to the main part of the shop without going outside?” I asked, following.

“Oh, we made Frank take you in from the outside because we wanted it to be a surprise,” Ray told me with a grin.

I chuckled lightly. “You guys really go all out when you want to surprise someone, huh?”

“We go all out doing anything,” Ray said with a shrug. I smiled up at him.

Gerard had kneeled down and removed a square wooden panel from the semi-ceiling. It really was an attic, with a ladder waiting for us at the opening. Once we all got down to the main area, everyone armed themselves with a pillow.

“Alright. Rules: No hits above the neck. You can only use the pillow as a weapon.” Frank giggled. “You can steal pillows. And no crying like a baby when you get hit.”

Mikey turned to me and handed me a small brown pillow, no wider than my own torso. “Ready for this?” he asked me.

“Ready!” I answered.

“Ok. Everyone, get set…” Gerard started. “…and head to the farthest corner. When I make the signal that’s when the game starts. Now… GO!”

They all started off in different directions, sprinting. Mikey grabbed my left wrist and dragged me with him. “Come on, Leya! We got to get to our corner quick!” His blond hair bounced all over the place as we ran.

“I’m gonna dominate you all!” we could hear Frank jeering.

“Alright, we got to be quiet,” Mikey whispered to me as soon as we got a corner, near the bathroom. He put a finger to his lips and smiled. “When Gerard whistles, that’s when the game starts and we basically go after each other like it’s a battle.”

I smiled and whispered out, “Okay.” My heart was pounding, but this was good anticipation.

WHEWWWWW!

That was the signal! Mikey crouched down, his back hunching, as he brandished his pillow. I followed close behind him. It’s quiet in the shop. Too quiet. We crept to the closest aisle. Mikey tried to look over the top of the shelves to see if anyone was around. I kept watch on the open ends of the aisle.

Just then, we heard a scuffle and someone go “Ah!”

Frank’s bubbly giggling echoed not too far from us. We heard nearby footsteps get louder and Mikey inched as close to the shelves as he could. I did the same. In the next second, Frank hopped out in front of the aisle with his pillow held up above his head. Mikey stepped out from the edge of the shelves and threw his pillow at Frank, hitting him in the stomach.

Frank bent a little, but answered with a laugh, “You’re gonna have to do better than that, Mikey!” and sprinted toward us.

“Leya! Get him!” Mikey shouted.

I don’t know what to do. I don’t want to hurt Frank. Not that it would, but I don’t know if I can bring myself to hitting him.

“Leya—No!” Mikey winced as Frank smacked his bare shoulder with a pillow repeatedly. Mikey turned from Frank while getting his back pelted and grabbed the pillow from my hands and smacked Frank on his side a few times.

A smile cracked on my face. They were acting like little boys. I stood there watching for about five seconds until Mikey told me, “Leya, go get my pillow!”

I immediately sprinted back to the end of the aisle as Frank swung and missed while trying to get me. I hurried and bent to pick up the pillow, looking back once I got it. Frank started running over to me with quick steps.

“Uh-oh,” I whispered as I got up.

“Leya, run!” Mikey yelled while attacking Frank’s back with his own pillow.

“Ah!” I squealed as I sprinted out of the aisle. Now where to go? I ran to my left just across the aisles. I saw a flash of red hair down one aisle and decided to keep running.

“Mikey, let go! There’s no holding!” I heard Frank scold from a few aisles down.

“You never said that at the beginning!” Mikey giggled.

“Finally found you!” I heard Ray exclaim.

“Oh no…” Frank muttered. I heard a soft crash and laughter from Ray as I crept into one of the other aisles.

What am I doing? I should be out there getting in on the action… I walked down to the edge of one aisle and heard footsteps near me. I stopped. The footsteps kept going. I stayed at the edge of the aisle and Gerard came into view, not noticing me. I walked up right behind him and lightly hit his side.

He jumped up and gasped, turning around to face me. I giggled. “Sorry, I had to,” I told him.

“You’re playing?” he asked, a grin on his face.

“I guess so. I was forced to carry on after Mikey went down,” I explained with a laugh.

“In that case…” Gerard started and lightly hit my arm with his pillow. I hit him back on his arm, and he smacked my side. We went at it like this back and forth for a good thirty seconds.

“How are we supposed to know who wins?” I asked with a laugh as Gerard hit my left arm again.

“I don’t know!” he answered with a laugh. I laughed back as I got him in his chest.

“Leya, I’ll save you!” I heard Mikey yell in a playful voice.

Gerard’s little brother came running alongside us and started pelting Gerard’s back with his pillow. At this point, it was me and Mikey vs. Gerard and we were winning. Gerard was on the floor now as Mikey and I got his stomach and his legs.

“Ugh, I surrender!” Gerard replied while huffing his breath.

His brother stood up straight and smirked. “Teamwork!” he told me as he raised up his right arm. I reached up and high-fived Mikey with a smile.

Gerard, still on the floor, reached up with his pillow and smacked Mikey’s backside with full force.

“Ow!” Mikey yelled out as he quickly skidded to the side in reflex. “I thought you surrendered!”

“That was payback!” Gerard replied with a diabolical laugh. Mikey threw the pillow back at Gerard’s face.

“Oh, you wanna start again, Mikey?” Gerard said as he threw the pillow back at his brother. They alternated taking hits at each other as Frank came sprinting through the aisle adjacent to us. Ray was chasing him, two pillows in his hands.

“Save me!” Frank shrieked as he came running to crouch behind me.

“What? No!” I replied as I tried to move away from him. He just held onto my shoulders and ducked his head as Ray came skipping forward.

“Don’t hide behind Leya, Frank! I told you I was gonna get you back!” Ray was chuckling softly.

Frank reached from behind me and snatched the pillow from my hands. “Take this, Toro!” he stated as he sent the pillow flying toward Ray’s crotch.

“Even though that didn’t hurt…I’m shocked you would go for such a low blow…” Ray said as he shook his head at Frank. Frank nervously laughed and put his hands up in the air.

“I…didn’t mean to…?” he said, the unbandaged side of his face turning up.

Ray lunged forward and around me to get to Frank and smacked him with both pillows in his hands, causing him to crawl into a fetal position on the floor. Frank shrieked and laughed at the same time as he got pummeled by pillows.

“Fine! I give! You win!” Frank told Ray. The muscular, curly-haired man raised both arms in the air in triumph. He then helped Frank up from the floor.

“That was fun!” I told the guys.

“Told you!” Ray directed at me. “I didn’t see you get anyone, though. Did you play at all?”

“Oh, she did. Snuck up on me,” Gerard remarked as he and Mikey stopped hitting each other. “But I got her back.”

“We were a good team,” Mikey said with a smile at me.

I smiled back. “So what do we do now?”

Frank answered, “What do you want to do?”

My eyes widened. “I don’t know… Are there any more games people play at sleepovers?”

We all looked to the side or to the floor in thought. “Hey, Gerard, don’t you think we should turn the lights off in this place soon?” Ray asked him.

“Oh, right. I almost forgot about that,” Gerard answered.

“I just got an idea!” Frank gleamed with excitement.

“What?” Mikey asked.

“Hide and go seek in the dark,” Frank said with a smug look on his face.

“Ooh…” Gerard remarked with a twinkle in his eye. “This is a great place to play that. Ray, help me turn off the lights.”

The two went to the main office, where the switches for the lights are. Gerard needed Ray’s help because one of the switches was rusty and heavy, and he needed extra force to turn it.

I stayed with Mikey and Frank, watching all the lights turn off until we were cloaked in pitch black darkness.

“Ooh… Scary…” Frank said in a teasing voice.

“Is it going to be this dark the entire time we have to hide?” I asked.

“It’s called hide and go seek in the dark,” Frank answered. I couldn’t even see his face. I wonder if my eyes will ever adjust.

Gerard and Ray somehow made their way back to us in the dark, and Gerard started, “Leya’s it. Let’s all hide.”

“Wait—what?! Why me?” I asked, still barely able to make out the edge of their heads.

“Because you’re the special one!” Gerard replied.

“Yeah, and you’re the youngest,” Mikey added.

“And you’re the shortest,” Frank answered with a laugh.

 I scoffed. “Oh sure, just pick on me, guys…”

“You know how to play hide and seek, right?” Frank asked me with another laugh.

“Of course I do!” I answered him with a glare he couldn’t see.

“Great. Then we’ll just start off from here, since we don’t want you to get lost just to start counting,” Gerard made a laugh. I heard the shuffle of feet as the guys moved away from me.

“Alright! Are you counting yet?!” Gerard yelled as he started skipping away.

“Not yet!” I called back.

“Count to twenty! And close your eyes! I know you can still see,” he sniggered.

I would have laughed if I hadn’t felt a chill rush up my spine at that moment.

_“Count to seventeen and close your eyes,” Diamondback whispered to me._

_“Make sure they don’t rise up again,” I heard the evil bald man tell his minions._

_I heard the PEW of lasers again and Diamondback shuddered against me. I held my breath, I held my tears, I held the cry that wanted to escape my throat, as I felt Diamondback’s heart stop—_

“Are you counting?” I heard Frank call out from somewhere within the shop.

“Twenty! Nineteen… Eighteen… ” I started counting.

It’s just a coincidence. Just a coincidence…


	8. Chapter 8

“…Three…Two…One…” I finished counting and opened my eyes. I still couldn’t see very well, but I could see the outlines of shapes.

I started walking out to the end of the aisle. It shouldn’t be too hard to find four guys in this shop, right? Of course, it’s really dark and I can hardly make out any color other than the white of the shelves.

I went over by the cashier counter, hoping to find someone there. But no such luck. Not even behind or below it. I heard a bit of footsteps shuffling across the linoleum from a few aisles to my right. I looked to check if I could see who it was. But no such luck.

It was really creepy now that it was so quiet. My own footsteps made more noise than anything. I quickly went down the nearest aisle to me, the one with the fishing gear, and peered through the shelves, since these were larger, and the guys could easily hide in one of them. I thought I could make out a shape of a body, and I crept closer to it.

“Is that you, Ray?” I asked as I tried to impossibly make things brighter with my eyes.

He answered, ”Aw, you got me!” I smiled. At least I was able to find one… “If you want a tip,” he whispered to me, “Mikey’s hiding on the floor under one of these shelves.”

I nodded and walked off, trying to be more quiet this time. I started looking toward the ground. If Mikey is really hiding on the ground in between the first shelf and the floor—which is not that big of a space to hide—I would have to take a closer look. I got down on all fours and winced as my injured knee throbbed. I sucked it up and eased up pressure on the knee, leaning my head low and trying to see in the darkness. My hair draped on the floor as I tried to see farther across multiple aisles to see if Mikey was there.

Again, I heard footsteps moving across the floor, but this time I’m sure they passed behind me on the other side of the aisle. I got up quickly and started walking back that way. A shine caught my eye. It was from an old machine, used for sorting coins. Next to it was an ATM machine, but just enough space to hide someone…

I peered in between the corners and saw someone for sure. It was Gerard. “Found you,” I told him triumphantly.

“I knew I should have picked a better spot,” he muttered.

“There’s not too many obvious places to hide, is there,” I told him.

“Not really…” he answered. “But you still have yet to find us all.” He must have been smiling because he said it in a teasing way.

“I’ll find Frank and Mikey soon enough,” I told him. I left on my way to try to find those two.  

I walked through the darkness to one corner, hoping to get a better scope of the shop from here. I need to think harder. Frank is pretty small, so he can hide practically anywhere, and Mikey is really skinny, so he can probably fold himself anywhere, too.

I decided to crawl down completely on my stomach to get under the shelves. As long as I elbowed my way across the ground, I could fit under those shelves just fine. And maybe I’d find someone soon.

I immediately regretted it as soon as I felt the dust bunnies cling to my shirt as I slid across the floor, which turned into concrete once the linoleum reached the shelves. Oh well, what’s a little more dust?

I did this for three adjacent aisles until I thought I saw a dark mass different from the darkness of the shop. I started to quietly crawl on my elbows under this shelf. The mass was still there and didn’t move. If that is Mikey or Frank, I’ll be really happy—

My hair is stuck. I tried moving forward, but got pulled back from the metal rung of the lowest shelf. I tried to reach back to release the strand that was stuck, but with this small space to work with, I wasn’t able to reach up and get it.

I contemplated just moving forward and ripping that strand. It would hurt, and it would make my hair look awful, but how else was I going to get out of this mess? I tried to push myself forward but ended up slipping on my own palms, smacking my temple flat on the concrete ground.

“Ow…” I muttered to myself. That actually hurt a lot. My head’s starting to feel all throbby and funny now…

But I realized that my hair wasn’t stuck anymore. I started crawling forward again, only to see the mass moving toward me. I stopped in my tracks. It’s Mikey or Frank…right?

“Hey, are you okay?” Mikey whispered as he crawled over to me.

I laughed to myself, exhaling in relief. “I’m fine. Just got another bump on the head.”

“I don’t think I’ve met anyone who hurts themselves as often as you do,” he replied with a soft laugh.

I laughed in return, noting how true that was. “Yeah, well, at least I’m resilient. Hey, you just spoiled your hiding spot!”

“It’s okay. You were gonna find me sooner or later,” Mikey told me.

“Now all I have to do is find Frank,” I said as I started crawling out from under the shelf. Mikey followed.

When I stood up, I wiped all the thick dust clumps off of my shirt with my palms. I started walking toward one corner again, not really knowing where to look.

I must have walked for five minutes with no clue as to where Frank was hiding. “Fine, Frank. You win,” I called out into the void. I didn’t get a response.

“Where are you?” I called out again. I was currently near the corner nearest the backdoor that we broke through earlier in the day. It was the last corner I had to thoroughly check. I decided to walk out into the biggest open aisle, to scope the place for the short man.

I was met up with Ray, Gerard, and Mikey. “Did you find him?” Ray asked. I shook my head.

“Frankie, you can come out now!” Gerard yelled.

“You don’t think he would have cheated by going into the bathroom or the office, do you?” I asked the guys.

“We should check just to make sure. That Frank’s a tricky one,” Ray replied to me. We all split paths. I decided to check near the back again. These aisles were full of t-shirts, flags, sweaters and caps with the old name of this county on them—all tooting Better Living Industries slogans of course.

“Frank?” I called out. I had searched here, but maybe he was still here and I just didn’t notice before. I bent down to examine one t-shirt just as I felt myself get grabbed from behind in a strong grip.

“Ahh! Let go!” I screamed as whoever had grabbed me spun me around in the air while keeping their hands clasped over my ribs.

Frank’s giggle vibrated behind my back and I realized who had snuck up on me. He lowered me to the ground as he continued laughing. “Oh, man! You scream like such a girl!” he remarked.

“I am a girl! And don’t you ever do that again!” I told Frank as I smacked his left arm.

He giggled in response. “I was just playing, Leya! I can’t believe you couldn’t find me! I was right here, too…”

It was dark, but I could see his teeth smiling. “I know you cheated somehow…” I told him.

“Oh! I am shocked you would jump to conclusions. I can show you how it’s done the next round,” he told me, lightly patting my arm.

“We heard screaming,” Gerard called as he, Ray and Mikey came running toward me and Frank.

“Are you okay?” Ray asked.

I smiled. “We’re fine. Frank just decided to sneak up on me.”

“Yeah, it was hilarious,” Frank added with a giggle.

“That’s good. I guess…” Gerard muttered. “Now that we’re all found, who was the first one that got found?”

“Ray,” I said with a beam.

“Ray’s it then!” Gerard cheerfully announced.

“Aw…” Ray complained.

We played hide and seek a few more times until we all headed back up to the attic, at what must have been around midnight. Once the lantern was turned on, we all relaxed and sat down, taking off our shoes. I made sure to keep my socks on to hide the blisters I had. They were numb by now, anyway…

“I think you should tell us a bedtime story,” Gerard told me as he leaned back on his palms.

“Why me?” I asked.

“You said you liked telling stories…” he explained with a raised eyebrow.

“Fine. Make yourselves comfortable then,” I told the guys. They all laughed while snacking on some of the bags of junk Ray passed out earlier.

I took a while to think of an idea, but then it came about.

“Okay. So, once upon a time… There were four coyotes. The first was big and strong, but he was also gentle. The second was the runt of the pack, but he was also the fastest and the most ferocious.” Frank giggled after this. “The third was also strong, but he was also very kind and took care of his brothers before himself.” Gerard smiled at Mikey as he heard this. “And the fourth, well he was very courageous. And he liked to rush into things, but he was also very responsible for his brother coyotes.

     “One day, a giant desert storm left the coyotes stranded and lost. Far from home, they had to try and find their way back…”

By the time I was done telling the simple story, none of them were conscious. I decided to take it upon myself to cover them up with their respective jackets. Especially Mikey, since he was the most exposed. I crawled over to the lamp and turned it off, grabbed my pillow, pulled my jacket over me, and drifted to sleep.

 

 

_“Count to seventeen and close your eyes,” Diamondback whispered. I could hear the strain in his voice._

_I panicked. If I closed my eyes, would they really leave me alone and believe I was dead?_

_“Make sure they don’t rise up again,” I heard the evil bald man tell his minions._

_I heard the PEW of lasers again and Diamondback shuddered against me. I held my breath, I held my tears, I held the cry that wanted to escape my throat, as I felt Diamondback’s heart stop. He became heavier, making it harder for me to breathe, so maybe I wouldn’t have to pretend so much anymore._

_Eight… Seven…_

_“They appear to be ghosted, sir,” a Drac told his superior._

_“Trash. That’s all they were. They didn’t even have information. They didn’t even put up a good fight.”_

_“Shall we take them to S/C/A/R/E/C/R/O/W?” a minion asked._

_“No,” the cold man answered. “They would be of no use to us. Take them out back, get rid of the bodies.”_

_My heart skipped. They were going to take us out back—what did it mean ‘get rid of the bodies’?_

_“As for you two, you’re coming with me to headquarters.”_

_“I’d rather die,” Jonah told the evil man._

_“I would make that an arrangement, however, I need you just the way you are. And what do you say, old hag?”_

_“I say I’ll pull this pin, and let the world explode,” Susana steely told the cold man. What are they doing?_

_I heard the click. Did she really have a grenade?! I have to get out of here!_

_I could hear the bald man run and order his Draculoids to follow him. A struggle ensued as I heard Susana scream._

_“What about the bodies?”_

_“Leave them! They’ll be incinerated with the explosion.”_

_I had to get up! Once that grenade went off it would trigger the other makeshift grenades to combust. This place was going to explode in less than 10 seconds!_

_I sidled out from under Diamondback, holding back tears as I did so. He was very heavy. He was dead._

_I shuddered. As I sat up, I saw Jax and Sniper to my right and left, lifeless as well. But I couldn’t think about this!_

_I rose up quickly and saw Jonah and Susana getting pushed with their hands bound behind them and cloths over their heads. They hadn’t even noticed I was still alive._

_I sprinted out toward the backdoor. I have about five seconds at best! I pushed the door open and continued running outside._

_BOOM!_

_Glass, ash and fire came bursting out behind me and the world crashed down—_

“Gah!” I had sat up quickly, kicking out my legs in the dark, realizing that I wasn’t at the hideout. I was here, with the Killjoys, sitting up in darkness. The only source of light was a very faint green glow coming from CD player Frank had brought up to the attic. He must have forgotten to turn it off, the bright green numbers shining—it’s 3:17am.

I put a hand to my heart, feeling it attempt to beat out of my chest. This time, it felt like it wouldn’t calm down. I can’t stop sobbing.

I sidled away from the guys and crawled over to the wall, holding myself against it. The beat of my heart still in overdrive. The pain of it. The freshness. Jax, Sniper, Diamondback. They’re all dead. Jonah and Susana…they’re… I still can’t believe it. Just like that, too. Oh my god…

I had done such a good job of not thinking about it after Gerard and the others found me. I think last night was the first time I didn’t have the nightmares, but of course, it wasn’t bound to last…

I leaned over, my stomach feeling queasy. I started to wretch, but quickly put a hand over my mouth in case I woke anyone up.

I decided to sit up against the wall, closing my eyes and breathing in. But that didn’t help. When I closed my eyes, I thought about Diamondback, and the feel of his cold blood running through my shirt.

I blinked open my eyes and noticed a figure moving. I gasped and pulled my legs close.

“Leya?” The figure came closer and it turned out to be Frank. He didn’t have his vest on anymore and I could see how his dark hair fell limply over his temple. “Are you okay?”

I didn’t even know how to answer that. I just shook my head as the tears started to come out again.

Frank came closer, telling me, “Shh…” He came and sat down next to me, putting an arm around me. I tried to breathe normally now, I tried to stop crying.

“Was it a nightmare?” he asked.

I nodded yes. “Except it wasn’t just a nightmare. It was real…” I whispered to him.

I could feel him look over at me, but I could barely make out his face from the glow of the CD player.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered, wiping my eyes. “I keep crying in front of you. It must look pathetic…”

Frank warmly shook my shoulder. “Hey, no. Don’t tell yourself that, alright? You’ve been through a lot.”

“You don’t have to say that.”

“But it’s true, isn’t it?” Frank asked me.

I didn’t answer him.

“Leya, you don’t have to tell me about it…” he started.

“No, I should,” I cut in. “Remember how I told you that the place I was staying at got raided?”

Frank nodded.

“Well—we didn’t just get raided. My friends got killed. They got killed saving me.” I shuddered. I paused, trying to quiet the tears and the sniffles. “And I keep having the same nightmare from that night. Every time I close my eyes I see it, I remember that feeling of their bodies turning cold—And I—I can’t ever do anything to make that right!” I wiped tears away from my cheeks. “That’s why I couldn’t handle it when you got hurt saving me. I don’t want anyone else getting hurt or dying because of me.” I pointed toward Frank’s bandaged gash.

Frank brought a hand around my head and pulled me closer to him. “I’m sorry about your friends, Leya. I truly am.” I think he really meant it. There was pain in his voice. “But don’t worry about us. Everything is going to be okay.”

“Is it? Because every time someone’s told me it’s going to be okay, it never happens,” I told him.

Frank sighed. “I know the feeling. But listen to me, Leya. _I promise you_ , things are going to get better. And if you ever need me, I’ll be here for you.”

I smiled with tears in my eye. “But you won’t.”

“What do you mean I won’t?” Frank asked, his voice a little angry now.

“Remember? You guys are dropping me off at Sweetwater Gulch tomorrow. This is the last time we’ll ever talk like this.” I hung my head.

“I said you’ll see us again and I meant it,” Frank told me.

I rolled my eyes. “That’s what everyone says…”

“I’m not everyone. I’m Frank Iero. And when I make a promise, I mean it. You will see us again, Leya. Count on it.”

I smiled. “Thanks, Frank.”

“You’re welcome,” he replied. I noticed he still had one arm around my left arm. It was warm.

“I’m gonna miss you,” I told him.

Frank snorted. “Why? I’m just a smelly old man.”

I shook my head and laughed. “You may be smelly and old, but you’re a good friend.”

“I’m going to miss you, too,” he told me.

We stayed sitting there in silence until Frank fell asleep. I was finally able to find peace, the comfort of Frank’s slow breathing against the side of my face lulling me to sleep.

 

“…I wish I had a camera… So precious,” I could faintly hear Gerard saying.

“Shh, you’re going to wake them up,” I heard Mikey whisper.

I started becoming conscious. It was still a little dark in the attic, but a lantern was on, at least I could tell that much from behind my eyelids.

It was at that moment I slowly opened my eyes and realized I was still sitting next to Frank—actually leaning my head on his shoulder, and he had his head rested on mine. I also noticed that Frank had both arms around me now.

And I had my hands wrapped around his right arm that he had wrapped around in front of me. I blushed, looking up to see Gerard, Mikey and Ray all standing, just watching.

They all laughed and said, “Good morning.”

I immediately took my hands off of Frank’s arm, but I couldn’t exactly move from the spot because I didn’t want to wake Frank up either. So I just sat there while my face burned.

“Rise and shine, sleepyhead!” Gerard said in a louder voice, causing Frank to stir. As he moved his head from mine, I moved mine up too. We faced each other and met eyes, his still sleepy, with the lids half covered, while mine must have been the size of the moon.

“Oh,” is all Frank said as his eyes widened and he looked down at his arms wrapped around me.

“Um…” I started. “Good morning.”

Gerard giggled. “So you two got pretty cozy last night, eh?”

Frank shot a terse look at the red head. “Shut up, Gee! We just fell asleep next to each other, that’s all.”

“Yeah,” I added. I was glad I was still wearing makeup. That way, they couldn’t see how much I was blushing.

“Mmhmm,” Gerard remarked with a rise of his eyebrow.

“And it was cold,” I awkwardly commented. Frank released me from his arms and stretched them out. I stretched out my legs for the first time in hours. I had still had them bent at the knee when I slept, so they felt rickety.

“You were a good pillow,” Frank told me with a giggle as he patted my head.

“So was your shoulder,” I told him with a smile.

“Aw, stop being so cute together,” Ray remarked with a grin.

Both Frank and I shot a hard look at the man with the curly hair.

“Fine! Sorry,” he replied. Me and Frank stood up, stretching and yawning.

“It’s bright and early!” Gerard announced while putting on his blue jacket. “Let’s get this show on the road,” he told me with a smile.

So this was the beginning of the end…


	9. Chapter 9

Gerard and the others had started picking up the stuff they had brought up to the attic. I bent down to the floor and picked up my jacket. I don’t know if I’m really ready to say goodbye.

“You know, I found mouthwash downstairs. No toothpaste or toothbrushes, but we can have something to work with so our breath isn’t stinky anymore,” I told the guys.

They smiled. “You’re really on top of all the hygiene issues, aren’t you?” Frank asked me.

I smiled. “Hey, it’s the one thing that makes me still feel like a girl. Of course, now I have a makeover to do that for me, don’t I?”

I looked over at Gerard and he grinned. “It still looks good. I really wish I had a camera!” He sighed while running a hand through his scarlet hair.

I laughed. “It’s okay. I’ll always remember it.”

We went downstairs and picked up all the supplies we had gathered to take with us. Exiting the shop, the sun was already bright, the dust blowing around excessively. The Trans-Am was still there next to a gas pump, ready for us to get in.

Gerard, Ray, and Frank put the supplies in the trunk as Mikey started pumping gas into the car. I stood next to the hood of the car while they did all this. In an hour, I would be with a new set of Killjoys. And these guys would head back to Battery City.

Mikey had started hitting the gas pump with his fists, a frown forming on his shaded eyes.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, going up to the pump.

“It’s not starting,” he muttered. He exhaled with frustration and removed the nozzle of the gas pump from the gas outlet of the car.

“Does it need money?” I asked.

“No, usually gas pumps this far from Battery City don’t. It might be broken. We can try the next one over,” Mikey stated as he went over to the other Killjoys, getting them to push the car to the next pump.

Mikey once again removed the nozzle from that machine and left it in the gas outlet. This time when he pressed a button for the gas to start pumping, a big thump was heard, and then the sound of running gasoline came out from the hose.

“Yes! Thank you!” Mikey exhaled with his arms in the air. The gas was pumped until the tank was full and then we all piled in the car. Again, I sat between Ray and Frank in the back, Mikey was the passenger, and Gerard the driver.

“Alright, time to get you to safety, Leya!” Gerard said with a grin.

I made a weak smile back.

Gerard turned the key in the ignition, cranking the engine.

But it didn’t start.

He frowned, and turned the key again.

Again, the car didn’t start.

“What the hell…?” he muttered to himself. The rest of us started looking toward Gerard.

I wonder why the car isn’t starting…

Gerard tried to start the car again about twenty times before throwing open his door and slamming it shut. He walked around to the hood of the car with a scowl on his face. He put his fists on the hood while looking down. The rest of us were silent in the car, not knowing what to say.

“Fuck!” Gerard yelled as he slammed a fist down onto the hood. He proceeded to kick at the parking lights and the entire front end of the car.

Frank sighed and pushed forward the driver seat so he could open the door and hop out of the car. The rest of us stayed. Frank walked around the side of the car, cautiously approaching Gerard, who was still punching the car.

“Hey!” Frank sternly told Gerard. The red-head glared at him and added another kick to the bumper.

“Gerard, stop!” Frank shouted as he came closer to Gerard.

Gerard shoved Frank off and walked to the back of the car. He started kicking that side, too.

“Listen to me when I’m talking to you!” Frank told Gerard as he followed.

“Fuck off, Frank!” Gerard pushed Frank again, harder this time. Frank had stumbled backwards and put his hands up in the air.

“You need to calm the fuck down! What the fuck’s got into you?” Frank asked Gerard with a scowl.

Gerard lashed out, “This fuckin’ car! It’s a useless piece of shit! Now how are we supposed to get anywhere? How are we supposed to save Grace now?! You got any fuckin’ bright ideas, Frank?!”

Frank responded by swinging a fist at Gerard’s face. Gerard had stumbled backward and started rubbing his jaw.

Mikey opened the door and rushed outside. Ray and I followed suit. Gerard was still rubbing his mouth as Frank stood with his fists clenched by his side.

“I didn’t want to fucking hit you, but you’re acting like a real asshole,” Frank told Gerard.

The red-head stood up straight and scoffed at Frank with anger still in his eyes. He stalked off to the entryway of the shop, taking a cigarette into his mouth, lighting a flame with his lighter.

Frank sighed out in frustration.

“Now what do we do?” Mikey asked.

“We gotta figure out why the car didn’t start…” Frank answered.

“There was gas actually pumping, right, Mikey?” Ray asked.

“Yes! Of course gas was actually pumping,” Mikey answered while crossing his arms. “Geeze, Ray…”

“Don’t you guys start, too,” Frank muttered as he put his head back in vexation.

I started thinking in my mind about everything that could have gone wrong. They pumped gas, and the car worked until the gas ran out, and then… Korse hit them…

“I think I have an idea of what it is!” I announced.

They all looked at me with skeptical expressions on their faces.

“The inertia switch… Sometimes, if a car gets into an accident, if it’s jolted enough, it could become dislodged. Maybe the line to the fuel pump just got disconnected,” I explained.

They all stood gaping at me, not saying anything.

“Who are you and what have you done with Leya?” Mikey asked, his glasses unable to hide his perplexity.

“Seriously,” Ray added. “What the hell?”

I looked down. “Look, I know what I’m talking about…”

“That’s the scary part!” Mikey remarked.

I breathed out sharply. “Look, my dad used to work on cars and my uncle owned a mechanic shop. I know a bit about cars…” I shrugged, hoping it wasn’t too weird for me to know about this stuff.

“I thought those kind of girls only existed in movies,” Frank giggled. Then he added, “Ray, you’re the one that knows the most about cars. Do you have any idea what she’s talking about?” Frank asked.

“Yeah, the inertia switch. I didn’t think about it. We can take a look right now and see if that’s the problem.”

Ray took off his jacket and got around to getting tools from the trunk, taking out the car jack. I handed Ray tools as he removed the bolts of the covering for the switch somewhere under the engine. After unscrewing the bolts and taking out the inertia switch, Ray promptly crawled out from under the car, oil on his shirt, hands, and parts of his face.

“Uh-oh…” Ray uttered as he stood up.

“What?” I asked, leaning in closer to take a look.

“It’s broken,” Ray said as he brought out the main line of the inertia switch between two fingers. It was split, alright. It looked pretty ratty, too. The only way to fix this was to get a replacement. But how the hell and where the hell are we going to find an inertia switch replacement for a 40 year old Trans-Am?!

I sighed as Ray let Frank and Mikey see the damage.

“So, does this mean there’s no way to get the car running?” Frank asked while putting a hand through his hair.

“No,” Ray answered while cleaning his hands on a white rag.

We all looked down at the ground now. What on Earth are we going to do?

“Hey—what about that guy—the one that helped us restore it—Torque Tommy was his name, I think,” Mikey suggested.

“What about Tommy, Mikey?” Frank asked, putting his hands on his hips.

“Well… Can’t he help us out? He’s got to have spare parts—or at least know where we can get them—or something!” Mikey’s hair flared in the wind as he spoke.

“Even if we did find Tommy, there’s no guarantee he’d be able to help us,” Ray told Mikey.

The blonde huffed out in vexation. “What other option do we have?! There’s obviously no way we’re getting this car started staying here. We have to find Tommy. It’s the only way we’re ever going to get out of here and save Grace!”

Mikey held his intense stare until Ray conceded, “Fine. We’ll get Torque Tommy.”

“You do realize that we’re going to have to get there on foot… Walking…” Frank directed toward Mikey with his arms crossed.

“I know,” Mikey muttered. “But there’s no other option. Without this car, we’re not getting anywhere in this desert.”

“I’ll go get the map,” Frank said with a sigh as he opened the passenger door to the Trans-Am, fishing around in the glove compartment.

I felt uneasy. We were stranded here. And our only glimmer of hope was the possibility of finding a guy who could _possibly_ have the part we needed.

“You’re sure this guy will just give you the part?” I asked Mikey.

He answered, “I’m getting that part no matter what,” while cracking his knuckles.

“And if he doesn’t have the part?” I asked again.

Mikey sighed. “He has to have it.”

“But Mikey—“ I started.

“Could you not argue with me for once, Leya?!” Mikey had come closer to me and raised his voice as he said that. I shrunk back.

“There’s no need to shout, Mikey,” Ray told him, putting an arm on Mikey’s bicep.

Mikey sighed and turned around. “Tommy has to have that part. He collects old cars and car parts.”

I was brave enough—or stupid enough—to interject again, “But Mikey, if he doesn’t have that part, you’re going to need a backup plan.”

He didn’t answer me.

I continued, “You can’t just rest all your hope on this one possibility—”

“What do you want me to say, Leya?!” Mikey whipped around. “You want me to be pessimistic? You want me to think about all the things that can go wrong? You want me to think realistically? Where is that going to get us? I’m sorry that I want to look on the bright side of things, that I want to believe that things are going to work out!”

I breathed in. “Look, I’m just trying to help—“

“Well, you’re not!” Mikey snapped at me.

I looked down and away.

“What the fuck, Mikey? Do I need to punch you, too?” Frank said as he approached us with a map in hand.

Mikey just looked down and away.

“Leya’s right. We can’t just assume things are going to go peachy,” Frank continued. “If Tommy doesn’t have that part, we’re going to come up with another gameplan. Maybe find another way to replace that part or get another car… All Leya was trying to say is that you need to have more than one way to reach the goal.”

Mikey continued staring in the same direction.

Frank scoffed, “Didn’t expect you to start acting like an asshole, too. You know, you and your brother really are more alike than I thought…”

Mikey slowly glanced my way. I lowered my eyes. Well, this is awkward…

“If you’ll excuse me, I need to go over these coordinates with Gerard,” Frank said as he scratched his head and exhaled.

Ray followed him and started, “Zone 5? Damn, I forgot how close to Battery City he was…”

 Once they were out of hearing distance, Mikey sighed and told me, “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay,” I answered.

“No, it’s not. I shouldn’t have lashed out at you. I’m really sorry, Leya. God, I’m such a fucking asshole…” Mikey looked away and hung his head.

I looked up at him, finally. I was appalled to hear what he said. He looked so pain-ridden.

“No you’re not,” I told him with a soft voice, trying to make the sincerity of my statement apparent. He didn’t respond.

“Mikey, no…” I came up close to him. “You’re…kind, selfless, and I can’t imagine you’d ever intentionally hurt anyone—emotionally, that is.” I smiled at him and continued, “You could never be an asshole. You’re just…angry. And anxious. We all are.”

He finally looked down at me. “That’s no excuse…”

“Hey, I get angry, too. I was rude to you just last night, in just the same way. So I get it. And I’m not hurt by you. I’m tougher than you think, remember?” I told him this last bit with a light bump on his arm.

His lips formed a smile. That same innocent-looking smile that confirms for me that he is incapable of true malice.

“Just like my Bunny,” he told me. “I knew there was a reason why I liked having you around so much.”

“You like having me around?” I asked.

“Yeah, of course,” Mikey answered with a raise of one dark eyebrow.

I smiled in response. I didn’t even say anything—I was just glad to hear that.

“Why are you smiling like that?” he asked.

“Like what?” I asked back.

“I don’t know… It’s weird…”

“You’re weird…” I answered, sticking my tongue out at him.

“You’re weirder than me!” Mikey argued with a laugh.

“What do you mean I’m not going?!” We turned our heads to see Gerard arguing with Frank and Ray.

“Some of us have to stay here and hold down the fort while the rest of us go get the part,” Frank said, walking back to the Trans-Am with the map in hand.

Gerard stalked behind Frank, replying, “I should be the one going to look for Tommy, then! It’s my car!”

Frank turned around to face Gerard, slightly looking up at him. “ _Your_ car?”

Gerard sighed. “Look, I didn’t mean that… But it’s my responsibility! I should be the one going out there!”

“No, we need someone to take care of Leya, and you’re the best option,” Frank answered.

“What?” I asked.

Ray added, “It’ll be me, Frank, and Mikey. We’ll be able to handle anything that comes our way.”

“That’s not the point. If anything goes down, if Korse shows up, or any of the exterminators—“ Gerard started.

“In that case, it’s all the more important that you need to be the one to protect Leya. Besides, Ray knows more about cars than you. And Torque Tommy doesn’t really like you.” Frank giggled.

Gerard crossed his arms while taking the smoking cigarette out of his mouth. “Yeah, but… You can’t just leave me here to babysit!”

I glared at Gerard. “Hey! I’m not a baby! Much less do I need someone like you to babysit me…”

Frank came up to me and pulled me aside. “Leya, fucking play it cool!” he whispered, while arching an eyebrow up at me.

I sighed loudly. “Looks like I have no choice, do I?”

“See? Even Leya doesn’t want to stay here. I’m telling you, we should all just go together—“ Gerard started arguing.

“No! We need you and Leya here. That’s final,” Frank answered Gerard.

“You think I’m just going to fucking sit here because you tell me to—“ Gerard was interrupted by Ray pushing him back.

“Gerard! Stop it.” Ray looked angry. “Trust us. We don’t always need you to lead us everywhere…”

Gerard’s face dropped and he took the cigarette back in his mouth, stalking back toward the entrance of the shop.

Ray sighed, putting his head down. He, Mikey and Frank started loading a couple canvas bags with some supplies from the trunk.

Before they could leave, I came up to Frank, pulling him aside. I really didn’t appreciate them keeping me out of the decision.

“You’re leaving me here?!” I exclaimed in a whisper to Frank.

He leaned in closer to whisper, “Gerard is unstable right now. He’s impulsive and there’s no telling what he’ll do if there’s trouble. That’s why I need you to take care of him.”

“What? So now _I’m_ babysitting _him_?” I asked.

Frank put a hand on my shoulder. “Leya, you’re the only one that can keep Gerard in check.”

“Me?!” I exclaimed.

“As long as you’re with him, he’ll be focused on protecting you, and he won’t complain so much about not being the one to solve this mess himself. Plus, he likes you. So I’m sure you’ll be fine,” Frank continued with a laugh.

“What if he throws another fit and wants to run off again? I’m not sure I can hold him back or calm him down…” I told Frank with a wince.

“I trust you.” Frank smiled at me.

I sighed. “Fine. Are you sure you guys know what to look for? Who to trust?”

“Come on, Leya,” Frank giggled as he lightly hit my arm. “We’re the Fabulous Killjoys. We got this!”

He put on shiny aviator glasses and turned around to join Mikey and Ray. Gerard was still scowling with his arms crossed and cigarette protruding from his lips.

“We should be back within three days. That’s how long it should take to walk there and back, with stops for rest, Of course.” Frank told me.

“And if you’re not?” I asked.

“Stop worrying! _We’ll be back in three days_.” Frank smiled at me and turned around to start walking in the desert.

Mikey and Ray waved at me and Gerard as they followed.

Now I was going to be stuck with the red-head who was having a tantrum problem.

Fantastic.


	10. Chapter 10

Gerard and I didn’t speak for four hours. Even as I turned from watching the other guys leave, he didn’t acknowledge me as I reentered the store. He just stayed outside, leaning against the wall, scowling with a cigarette burning in his mouth.

To be honest, I didn’t want to talk to him. Not if he was going to be in a bad mood.

After going inside the shop, I wiped off the makeup from my face, taking off the small bandages on my face in the process. Gerard had gone over them with the makeup to keep my cuts protected, but now the small band-aid slivers were useless. I also redressed the wound on my knee. It had gotten healthier and reduced in size since the last time I saw it. I’ll have to thank Mikey when I see him again.

After that, I got the stereo we had used last night, and started listening to CD’s in the office. There wasn’t really anything I could do.

It was an awkward situation; I hadn’t had free time in years. And any alone time in the desert was spent running or hiding. These are going to be two long days, especially if I don’t have anyone to talk to.

For a few minutes, a part of me panicked that maybe Gerard would have gone after the other guys. That was when I decided to go outside and confront him myself.

I rushed to the opening of the shop only to run into Gerard coming back. He looked surprised when he saw me. I almost wanted to say “You’re still here!” but that wouldn’t have made any sense.

“You took the makeup off,” he noted while gesturing to my face.

“It was getting a bit itchy,” I told him awkwardly.

We were silent for a few seconds.

“Did you need something?” he finally asked me.

I creased my eyebrows in confusion. “What?—No. I was just coming out here to check on you.”

Gerard nodded as he twirled the car keys in his left hand. He brought his other hand to his hair, scratching his head. “I’m sorry about earlier…” he finally said.

“Why are you apologizing to me?” I asked.

“Don’t act like you don’t know. I know how much of a jerk I was being earlier. It’s okay if you hold it against me.”

I didn’t say anything back for a while. What the hell was I supposed to say? We were both ordered to take care of the other while we were here. It wasn’t like either of us was comfortable with it.

Gerard walked ahead of me and started taking off his jacket. He gently put it on the cashier counter, sighing as he looked down.

I wish I knew what to say to make this awkward silence disappear.

He glanced back at me. Not just a fleeting look—more like he was going over something in his mind about me. His greenish eyes flitted back down to the ground and then he made a half-hearted laugh.

“I sure know how to leave a lasting impression, don’t I?” he asked me, although it sounded more like he was talking to himself.

I decided to finally speak up. “We all have our low moments. But I don’t choose to define others by those moments. It’s what you do in your greatest moments that really count.” Gerard stared at me. “You’re a hero, Gerard. You saved me. And that’s how I’ll remember you.” I gave him a smile.

He cracked a smile. “Me, a hero?” he looked down, shaking his head. “It’s what anyone with a heart would have done. I wasn’t the only one there, either.”

“Doesn’t make you any less of a hero, Gerard.” I smiled, blushing at how corny I was being.

He looked down with a smile stretching across one side of his face—it looked unnatural.

“Thanks. I don’t deserve those kind words, but I appreciate them, Leya. And from now on, I’ll try and not explode anymore.” He laughed.

“So do you have any ideas what to do in this place to pass the time?” I asked him, hoping we would come up with something better than pillow fights and makeovers.

He sighed. “I don’t know. It’s going to be a long two days, I’ll tell you that.”

And boy, were they…

For two days, Gerard and I listened to the full discography in the office, we came up with a few more verses for that song Gerard first wrote, and we talked a lot. The funny thing is that we talked about the weirdest things; childhood memories, our fascination with cars and driving fast, and other random things. I learned just how geeky Gerard was and apparently I was missing out on a lot of things in life.

It was always nice talking to him. Mostly because we never really ran out of things to talk about. I ended up telling him a lot of things that I had never told anyone before. And he told me some things about himself that even the other guys weren’t too aware of.

Maybe it was because I felt like I could talk to him about anything—or maybe it was because I had gotten tired of keeping it inside, but somehow I ended up telling Gerard about what happened three days before he found me.

We were lying in the dark in the attic again, the lantern in the corner of the room giving a soft glow. Neither of us could sleep. We would usually play stupid games like 20 questions to make the minutes go by faster, but I would never be able to get Gerard’s and mine were too obscure, so he never got them either. But for some reason we were just lying there.

“What time do you think the guys will come back tomorrow?” I asked Gerard while stretching my arms behind my head.

He exhaled. “I don’t know. They’ll probably leave before dawn, to be safe. We should expect them by nightfall.”

I sighed. It was hard not knowing if they were okay while they were off somewhere in the desert.

“Are you worried?” Gerard asked me.

I laughed. “Of course I am.”

“Yeah, me too.”

“I just wish there was a way that I could know if they were alright,” I sighed.

Gerard turned his head toward me. “They’re going to be fine, Leya. It’s my brother, Frank and Ray we’re talking about here.”

I sighed, trying to release the tension in my shoulders from the anxiety I felt about this. “They better be. I can’t lose anyone again.”

“You won’t lose us, Leya,” Gerard told me in a soothing tone.

I sat up. “You know, you saying that doesn’t mean anything.”

Gerard sat up, too. “Why not?” he asked me.

“I lose everyone.” I paused. “I think it’s time that you know the truth about me.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” Gerard asked me, sounding grave.

“Look, you and the other guys have been putting your trust in me. I think it’s only fair that you know who you’re putting your trust in,” I clarified.

“You’re not an axe murderer, are you?” Gerard asked with a narrowed eye at me.

I sardonically laughed. “No. But… there are things about me that I didn’t want to tell you guys, because it would only cause you to worry about me.”

“Like what?” he asked.

I stretched out my arms in front of me. Where to start? “Well, everything that’s happened in the last two years…?” I said with a laugh. Gerard didn’t laugh in response, he appeared to be listening. So I started,

“Before I left Battery City, my parents disowned me and my sister, once we started affiliating with ‘rebels’. They were so brainwashed by all the pills, so infected with the poison of Better Living Industries that they started to hate their own children. That’s when we got kicked out. We became ‘dead’ to them. And then only four months later, the Cleanout happened.

“My sister always took care of me. She was the one that outsmarted officials, that found underground havens. She’s the one that taught me about all I needed to know once I got out of Battery City. She was the one that helped me get out. But she wasn’t able to get out herself because she got separated from me in the frenzy of it all.

“After that, I became a Killjoy with about twenty others. It was like a tribe at first, you know, everyone got along. Everyone was for the same cause. But as with every tribe, certain people butted heads. Some went back to Battery City. And others ran off by themselves. Eventually, I ended up alone.

“After spending five months on the run, I came across a Killjoy hideout in sub-Zone 18. It belonged to this old couple, Jonah and Susana. They pretty much interrogated me before letting me join them, but they took care of me. I met my three friends there, Jax, Diamondback, and Sniper. They were taken in by Jonah and Susana before me. Jax was only a year older than me. Diamondback was about thirty, and Sniper—well, I could never tell with him. He was always quiet. All I know is he was younger than Diamondback. I stayed with them all for three months. For once, it felt like I could start living normally again. You know, we had shelter, food, support… But that all ended six days ago.

“Some exterminators had found out about the hideout. It was a surprise to us all as we were all ready to start sleeping and then a crash on the door was heard. They wanted answers before they fired. The main baddie was this evil, creepy looking bald man. He wore this fancy jacket and his eyes were so black, I couldn’t believe he was human. Anyway, when they tried to get answers from me, I didn’t know anything, but they asked for my name. There was no way in hell I was going to tell them my name, knowing how quickly that would end me and anyone I was affiliated with. And that’s when things got violent.”

I paused, composing myself before I told the rest.

“Before the Dracs could shoot at me, Jax, Diamondback, and Sniper all got in front of me and took all the shots for me. I have no idea why or how, but none of the lasers that were shot out hit me. Instead, my friends’ bodies got riddled with burns and holes. They had all collapsed on top of me. The evil man and his minions couldn’t even tell I wasn’t dead because I was crushed to the floor by Diamondback’s weight.” I shivered at this moment. “He was still alive for a few more seconds. The last thing he told me was to count to seventeen and close my eyes. That’s how long it would be before they judged us dead. And they made sure of that by shooting down Diamondback and the others again.” A lump grew in my throat, but I pushed it back.

“That’s when they went back to Jonah and Susana. Apparently, since they’re inside the underground Killjoy network, they have a lot of valuable information BL/ind is trying to get. Susana was always a feisty one. She threatened to blow the whole place up with one of her homemade grenades, releasing it right there. But they took her and Jonah before the place could explode. And the whole while, I was wriggling out from under the bodies of my friends. I couldn’t even say goodbye to them.” I started crying now. I couldn’t hold it in anymore.

Gerard placed a hand on my shoulder. “I’m sorry, Leya. I had no idea…”

“It’s okay,” I sniffled. “That wasn’t the end of it. I got out maybe two seconds before the grenade went off. Glass, ash, and fire poured out. The force of the explosion made me fall down, and pieces of the building fell from the sky around me. I got hit with a piece of wood to the back of my head and I was unconscious for a few hours. That is, until the Draculoids found me. The bald man had taken Jonah and Susana to SCARECROW but the others were ordered to raid the remains of the hideout, in case any information arose. And I was still there among the remains. Obviously, it was an odd sight to see my corpse outside of the building when I was supposed to have been incinerated inside the building. And that’s when they realized I wasn’t dead.

“I was awoken by a kick in the side from one of the Dracs. I forgot to play dead. The two Dracs argued over either killing me or taking me back to their leader, and that’s when the running began. Of course, me being me, I tripped onto a piece of concrete that burst from the building and bloodied up my knee, which also made running a bitch. But I kept running, night and day. I stopped to catch my breath each time I would lose the Dracs. But they kept on catching up to me. And then when I thought everything was going to come to an end, you showed up.”

Gerard was staring at me with a look of empathy. He looked like he was in pain.

“Some backstory, huh?” I joked. Gerard frowned at me. I dropped the smirk I had. We were quiet and I looked away.

“So now you know why I have such an issue with being a damsel in distress?” I asked Gerard. “I don’t want anyone to get hurt to save my life. It’s not worth it.”

“Yes it is,” Gerard argued with that same sad look on his face.

“My sister got me out of Battery City and she’s either dead, brainwashed, or who knows what? Jax, Diamondback, and Sniper are dead because they saved me! Fucking… Frank almost died saving me, too!” The tears were pouring out now. “I don’t deserve this. What good comes out of me going on while the ones I care about, the ones that are stronger than me, die?”

I drew up my knees, resting my chin on them. I let the hair drape over the sides of my face.

“You’re an idiot, Leya,” Gerard told me with a bite to his tone.

“What?” I gasped out.

“I said you’re an idiot,” Gerard muttered. “Look at me.”

I reluctantly looked over at him. He reached his gloved hands over and took my face in his hands. “I’m looking at a girl that is strong, that has gone through a lot of pain, but has survived. You’re a survivor, Leya. You need to go on because the ones who risked their lives for you, they would want you to go on.”

“But go on and do what? What do I live for?” I asked.

“To live, Leya. We were all put on this Earth for one reason or another. It’s like that song we wrote. I want my daughter to go on, even when I’m gone, because I know she has a future. I know that as long as she keeps living, that she keeps fighting, the sun will keep shining, and this world has a chance at being beautiful again. The same goes for you. You make this world beautiful just by being yourself, by fighting to stay alive. Don’t ever say you don’t deserve to live. The ones who died to save you died with honor in their hearts. _You are their only hope._ You’re a Fabulous Killjoy now. And us Fabulous Killjoys, we’re family and we love each other until the end of everything. We love you, Leya. You should love yourself, too.”

I didn’t know what to say. No one had ever told me anything quite like this. I stared at Gerard, waiting for a cue, waiting for something that didn’t leave me stunned.

“Don’t worry so much. The worst is over. I know how it feels to lose people close to you, and I know how much pain you must be in right now. But don’t lose sight of the important thing—to keep on living. If there’s one thing the dead teach us, it’s that we shouldn’t take for granted any breath that goes through our lungs, any second that passes by. You only live once. Don’t let it go to waste.” Gerard released my face and sat back.

“Thank you, Gerard,” I whispered to him. He smiled.

“No problem. I don’t like to see you cry, Leya. You should never have to cry.”

“I’m sorry. I’m such a crybaby!” I said with a laugh, wiping away the tears.

“Don’t be sorry. You’re not,” Gerard told me, showing off his little teeth with a grin. He looked so young, with his vibrant red hair and his baby face. It still appalled me that he was over 30.

“I think you should know something, too,” he continued, the grin disappearing.

“What?”

“You know that man that you mentioned, the bald one?”

“Yeah,” I said, feeling the chill.

“I think that’s Korse. You described him exactly as he is.”

I froze. So that evil man is the head of the exterminators, the one after these Killjoys, too?

“There’s just one thing I can’t figure out…” he muttered, looking down.

“What?” I asked.

“Why did he want your name?” Gerard asked.

I shrugged, thinking it over as well. “He had tried to make a deal, telling me that if I told him my name, I wouldn’t be hurt. I didn’t believe it, of course. And after that he killed Jax, Diamondback, and Sniper. I can’t think of any reason why he would want my name. I mean, I’m nothing to him…” I told Gerard.

He started biting his fingernails. “That’s odd,” he remarked as he looked down, intent on whatever he was thinking. “If he got your name, he’d know everything he needed to know about you—your family, your history, hell, even your blood type!—Wait a sec…”

“What?” I asked.

“In Battery City, how are the neighborhoods segregated?” he asked me.

I creased my brow. “By blood type. In case anyone needed transfusions in an emergency…”

“But it was for more than that! I don’t know how bad it was before you got out, but don’t you remember that people started changing, and when one person changed everyone around them started to change?”

“Right… one week my neighbors were acting weird and then the next week my parents started acting weird. It was the drugs…”

“I have this theory that SCARECROW was conducting its experiments on the very citizens of Battery City. But it was only on the adults. They wanted to brainwash the children the old fashioned way by conditioning them through education, teaching them all the propaganda in school. Teaching them to grow up to become an army.”

“An army? You think Korse wanted to…recruit me?”

“It’s not that farfetched. Lately, there’s been talk of Killjoys going rogue, working for Korse secretly. What better recruits for your army than the ones that are able to fight just as good as if not better than your own soldiers?”

I thought back to Jonah and Susana. They were spared only because they had information. But Korse told them that he needed them the way they were… Does that mean that after he gets what he wants, he’s going to brainwash them into working for SCARECROW? I’d heard the stories…those that got taken to SCARECROW never came out…

“Do you think that’s why he took the girl you were with?” I asked Gerard.

Gerard’s eyes burned into an imaginary target. “No. Korse took Grace because he knew that was the one way to lure us to him. She’s too young to be a soldier for him…”

I stared at Gerard. “You’re going to find her,” I told him.

“Damn right. And I’m going to kill Korse, if it’s the last thing I do. I’ll be sure to get in an extra shot for you when we meet him,” Gerard told me with a serious look.

“You mean you’re going to go up against him directly?” I asked.

“He took Grace, almost killed us a bunch of times, and he’s ruined the lives of many of our friends. He is far past due his expiration date,” Gerard said while clenching his fists.

“I should be there with you guys when you go,” I told him.

“No. It’s too dangerous.”

“I can handle it. I’ve escaped from him before,” I said.

“No. We promised to get you somewhere safe so you wouldn’t have to fight.”

“But I can help—“

“No, Leya. If I have to tie you up myself and leave you in Sweetwater Gulch just so you won’t follow us, I’ll do it,” Gerard said with a laugh.

I wouldn’t put it past him.

“You look so horrified,” he remarked.

“Only because I know it’s something you would do,” I answered with a glare.

“Get some sleep, Princess Leya.” Gerard put a hand over mine and squeezed it.

I smiled and told him, “Good night, Gerard.”

We went to sleep. This time, I went to sleep with the hope of seeing Frank, Mikey, and Ray the next day.

 

But they didn’t come home the next day.

Or the day after that.

Gerard and I were sitting outside in the afternoon sun, keeping watch in case the guys would come back.

“Something’s not right,” I spoke aloud.

“I’m sure they’re fine,” Gerard replied to me.

“Gerard, it’s been five days now since they left. Frank said they would be back in three! Something’s not right! What could be taking so long?” I asked.

“We should just wait. They could be on their way right now,” Gerard told me with a sigh.

“No. We have to go after them.” I stood up, causing dust to swirl up from my feet as I did so. It was still a bit windy.

Gerard scoffed. “What do you mean? You want to start a journey on foot for about 30 miles, not knowing where you’re going, entering enemy territory, and the possibility of missing them as they come back?”

“Well, I can’t just stay here waiting! Something’s wrong. I just know it.”

Gerard was quiet as he sat back against the wall.

“I know you’re thinking the same thing,” I told him.

“You’re not going anywhere. The whole purpose of us splitting up was so that we stayed here to occupy the store and keep watch of the car.”

“A car that doesn’t fucking work!” I argued. “I’m heading out to Torque Tommy with or without you…” I started walking inside, to start getting supplies.

Gerard stood up fast and grabbed my arm. “What the hell do you think you’re doing? You don’t even have any idea where Torque Tommy is!”

“No, but you do! I’m getting a map and you’re showing me the coordinates,” I told him, moving my arm out of his grasp.

“I’m not helping you go on a suicide mission,” Gerard retorted as he grabbed my arm again, rougher this time. “We can wait another day.”

“You know, I bet you wouldn’t be saying this five days ago,” I told him with a raise of my eyebrow. “Where’s that Gerard? Or was he only good for beating up cars?”

His face turned into an angry frown now. “Frank wanted us to stay here. If we end up leaving and somehow get lost, or end up losing each other out there, it’ll be bad for everyone.”

I clenched my fists, looking straight into Gerard’s eyes. “Gerard… Please tell me you can feel it, too. Something happened to them. At least, something’s not right. We need to at least check if they made it to Torque Tommy’s. I can’t stay here another day waiting with uncertainty.”

Gerard stared at me for a few seconds and answered, “You’re right.” He let my arm go and zipped his open blue leather jacket. “Let’s get my fucking brothers back!”

We went inside, gathering supplies into two knapsacks, one for me and one for Gerard. It didn’t matter that it was already 4 o’clock in the afternoon. We were leaving now. We need to find Frank, Mikey and Ray.

Gerard and I started to speed walk through the sand, scarves over our faces, his ray gun holstered, and enough drive to get us through the night, no matter what comes our way.


	11. Chapter 11

It had been a day and a half since Gerard and I left the checkpoint, and we were in our last few miles to reach Torque Tommy’s junkyard. We had already gone through most of the food rations and the skin on our faces was red and peeling from walking under the sun so much. This is what happened when you got closer to Battery City.

It is true, each zone further from Battery City increases in temperature and harmful radiation from the sun’s rays. But contrary to popular belief, the atmosphere became clearer and danger from UV rays became almost nonexistent after you got past Zone 6. Battery City and its six surrounding zones were like a snowglobe of radiation and acid rain, but once you got outside of it, there was the real world in all its raw beauty.

Along with the sunburn, the cuts on my face became infected because of the dust winds that only ceased last night and no grumpy blond to nag me about it. My knee also became a little infected again and I gained new blisters on my feet to add to the ones that were already there.

But finding Ray, Mikey, and Frank was more important than any minor harm I would have to go through in getting there.

“When we see Tommy, I want you to refer to me as Party Poison,” Gerard told me as we walked in the purple morning of the desert.

“He doesn’t know your name?” I asked Gerard.

“No. None of the other guys’ either. Anyway, it’s best that you don’t reveal your real name, either. We can’t trust him.”

“Do you think this guy would have had something to do with the guys not coming back?” I asked Gerard. After a week of not seeing Frank, Mikey, and Ray, we were sure something bad had happened.

“I don’t know. I wouldn’t put it past him…” Gerard cracked his knuckles, the anger in his eyes piercing an imaginary target.

“Just who is he?” I asked.

“He’s a Killjoy… But he also used to be a fucking junkie. You know, he acts like he’s your best friend, but he’s always lookin’ to get something out of you at the same time. I don’t trust the guy and I made that clear the first time I met him. And for that reason, he doesn’t like me very much.”

I looked down. Mikey was so adamant about finding this guy when he blew up at me a week ago. I shivered as I thought about how he said he would save that little girl, even if he died trying…

“But I do have to hand it to him, he knows his shit about cars. And he has an amazing collection of vintage cars and car parts—he’s basically the boss of dealing cars and car parts in this whole desert. And he was willing to cooperate with us to get our Trans-Am restored after we had saved him from a scrape with some Dracs,” Gerard continued.

“What do the other guys think about him? Mikey was so hellbent on getting this guy’s help… I had assumed it would be safe,” I told Gerard, while putting a hand over my eyes to shield the rising sun’s brightness.

“Mikey Way, you selfless little bastard,” Gerard muttered while looking toward the ground. He turned to me saying, “The other guys know what to expect from Tommy. We all agreed not to trust him.” He sighed. “But he is the best person to contact for the mess we’re in. I kind of wish my little brother wasn’t so smart sometimes. He’s always a step ahead of the rest of us in terms of knowing the right moves to make.” He made a short laugh. “That little dork better be untouched when I meet him again…”

“Mikey’s going to be fine,” I told Gerard. “He has to be… He’s the Kobra Kid,” I said with a smile.

Gerard made a small smile back and we walked for another two hours until we came to Torque Tommy’s junkyard, a rather ostentatious looking thing.

The junkyard was bordered by about 400 ft of concrete wall on its front side, with electrical wiring along all its other borders. And of course, barbed wire lined both the walls and the electrical fences. But that wasn’t the ostentatious part—the entire face of the concrete wall was painted and covered in graffiti, with loads of vibrant pinks, yellows, oranges, greens, and a vast collection of road signs tacked up on the wall. Gerard and I walked up to the center of this wall, where there was a doorway that had “FUCK OFF” painted in black graffiti over the image of a Drac caught in a noose.

After walking through the dirt and weeds to get to the graffiti-covered iron door, Gerard motioned for me to move aside and rapped on the door three times.

“Who the fuck is it this early?!” we heard from the other side.

“It’s Party Poison,” Gerard announced with a straight face.

It was two seconds’ delay before a slit opened up and we were met with bloodshot blue eyes.

“Well, look at you! Haven’t seen your ugly mug in ages,” the man with bloodshot eyes answered.

“You gonna let me in or not?” Gerard asked, sounding unamused by the man’s rudeness.

“Sure, man… Hold on a sec.” The slit became covered again. Gerard gently took my arm as he walked back a few paces. The iron door slowly opened as a spindly man came out decked in a black leather jacket with ripped off sleeves and spikes attached to the shoulders. He had a blonde and pink Mohawk, an earring that seemed to be made of a chicken bone and some kind of bluish bead, and a magenta ray gun in hand.

Once he caught my eye he pointed his ray gun at me. “Who is she?” he asked Gerard.

“Put down your fucking gun!” Gerard snapped as he rushed in front of me. “She’s a friend.”

I was staring at Gerard’s raised shoulders as he pulsed with anger.

“A friend? How am I ‘sposed to know I can trust her?” the spindly man asked.

“Would I be with her if we couldn’t trust her? Besides, she’s just a kid,” Gerard answered. I internally cursed him for calling me a kid again…

The man peered around Gerard at me. He then gestured with a finger as he kept the gun pointed at me. “Hey, girl, you gonna introduce yaself or what?”

“The name’s Stellar,” I said as I came around from behind Gerard. “Stellar Jazz.”

“Torque Tommy,” he said as he retreated the gun and extended a tattooed hand toward me. I shook it gingerly.

“This another kid you decided to adopt, Party?” Torque Tommy joked, while revealing chipped front teeth.

Gerard stared at him with a livid glare. “Cut the bullshit smalltalk, Tommy. I got a few questions to ask you.”

“Always so serious, Party…” Torque Tommy replied with a hurt look. He stepped aside, waving a hand toward the inside of the junkyard. “Well, come on in, then. We can talk properly inside.”

Gerard stalked forward and I followed. Torque Tommy closed the door behind us and put a hand across my back, patting it as we walked toward his office, a small shack similarly painted like the concrete wall. Inside the office was a desk, loads of trinkets and several car parts on the shelves that lined the walls. It reeked of cigarette ash smell. Torque Tommy went around his desk, dropping his gun on the desk and picking up a pack of cigarettes.

“So what do ya wanna know?” he asked as he lit a cigarette sticking out of his mouth.

“Kobra, Fun, and Jet should have been here about a week ago. Any ideas of their current whereabouts?” Gerard asked with a grave stare.

“Sorry, Party, I ain’t seen those fools since I helped restore the Trans-Am,” Torque Tommy said while puffing out smoke from the side of his mouth. I coughed.

“You’re telling me that they never came here?” Gerard asked, clenching his fists.

“Nope. You don’t think they got lost out there, do ya?” Torque Tommy asked with a worried expression on his brow.

“They would never get lost,” Gerard answered. “You sure you haven’t seen anyone around these parts?”

“Just you and your girl here,” Torque Tommy replied while pointing the cigarette at me. “I’ll be glad to keep an eye out for them, though.”

Gerard had his hands on his hips, looking down in vexation.

“Why don’t you two have something to drink, you’re startin’ to look like real scarecrows,” Torque Tommy laughed.

I looked toward Gerard. This couldn’t be it. There had to be something Torque Tommy knew—

My thoughts were cut off by the sight of seeing Gerard lunge forward, taking hold of Torque Tommy’s throat in his hands. Gerard pushed the ex-junkie to the wall, slamming the back of his head against it.

“What the hell!” I exclaimed. Torque Tommy’s face was red in the exertion he was using trying to pry Gerard’s hands off of his neck.

“Where the fuck are my brothers?!” Gerard shrieked at Torque Tommy. He looked almost demonic, the way his face had contorted in anger.

“I told you I don’t know!” Torque Tommy yelled back.

Gerard slammed his head back into the wall. “Tell me where the fuck they are right now, Tommy! If anything has happened to them, I’ll fucking kill you!”

Sweat dripped down Tommy’s temples as he struggled to reply, “They didn’t fucking come here…”

“Don’t fucking lie to me, you motherfucker!” Gerard shrieked as he sent a fist into Tommy’s abdomen. Tommy choked and grew limp.

“Party!” I exclaimed. “Don’t kill him!”

“Oh, this isn’t even close to what I’m going to do to him before I’m through…” Gerard answered while tightening his grip on Tommy’s neck.

I rushed over to appease Gerard, but bumped my hip into the desk on the way, forcing a clutter of things to fall to the ground.

“Ah,” I let out, while bending down to quickly pick them up. “Party, you need to calm down before—“

I stopped because I just discovered that Torque Tommy is a dirty rotten liar.

I stood up, holding an inertia switch in my hand. It looked identical to the one that Ray had taken out—except this one was in optimal condition.

“You liar…” I started as I came up close to Gerard and Tommy.

“What the fuck are you going on about?” Tommy choked out.

“I said you’re a fucking liar. Mind explaining what an inertia switch is doing on your desk?” I growled as I presented the car part with a scowl.

Gerard looked at me in surprise, then turned back to Tommy, giving him another slam against the wall. “Didn’t see them, eh?! They didn’t fucking come here?!” Gerard gave him another slam. “You tell me where the fuck my brothers are right now before I shoot the shit out of you with this ray gun.” Gerard promptly took out his yellow ray gun from his pant holster, holding it against Tommy’s head.

“Don’t fucking shoot me!” Tommy roared.

“Tell me what you did to my brothers!” Gerard roared back.

“I told you I haven’t seen them…” Tommy croaked.

“Then why is there an inertia switch here, identical to the one we need replaced?” I asked, crossing my arms.

“I got loads of those lying around…” Tommy answered.

“Yeah, just sitting on your front desk? Where are they?!” I started yelling myself. I surprised myself by how enraged I had become.

“Every word that comes out of your mouth better be the truth, you rotten fucker,” Gerard muttered to Tommy, with the barrel of the gun still held at his temple.

“Fuck. Fine…” Tommy started. “They came here…about five days ago. Looking for that car part.”

“And then what?” Gerard asked with a glare.

“Told ‘em it was gonna take a while for me to find it. Told ‘em to hang out for a while. I came back in an hour with the switch and they were gone.”

Tommy stared at Gerard with his bloodshot eyes completely red now, the veins in his neck protruding from the skin.

“Where are they?” Gerard asked while grating his teeth.

“I told you, I don’t know,” Tommy replied. Gerard took his gun from Tommy’s head and struck a blow on the side of it.

“Ah! Fuck!” Tommy groaned.

“The next lie is going to cost you your life,” Gerard warned.

“Wait. Don’t kill him just yet,” I told him while putting a hand on his shoulder.

“See, listen to the girl!” Tommy exclaimed.

I walked up to Tommy. “Don’t mistake it for mercy. The only reason I don’t want you dead is so you can tell me where my friends are.”

“What’s a little girl like you gonna do?” Tommy snorted.

I scowled and sent a fist crashing into his nose.

“Gah!” Tommy roared, the blood starting to gush down his face from his nostrils.

I winced at the pain from my knuckles, cradling it in my other hand. It really hurt to punch someone in the face!

“See, Stellar here ain’t gonna take no bullshit, either,” Gerard said with a smirk.

“Tell us where they are,” I told Tommy.

“SCARECROW got ‘em,” Tommy finally said with a sniff.

“SCARECROW?” Gerard echoed.

“Yeah, a score of agents came and took ‘em.”

My heart skipped a beat. No…

“And just _how the fuck_ did SCARECROW agents find my brothers?” Gerard asked with a livid look on his face.

Tommy laughed, showing off blood-stained teeth. “You guys have the top bounty in this whole fucking desert. 1 million c’s for each of you. You know how set I’d be for the rest of my life with that money? And all I needed to do was make a little phone call…”

So it was Tommy—he called agents on Frank, Mikey and Ray… Asshole.

Gerard sent a fist flying across Tommy’s temple. “You son of a bitch… You sold them out?!”

“I needed to cover my own ass! You think BL/ind is gonna mess with the guy that nabs the Fabulous Killjoys?” Tommy replied, panting, his eyes rolling toward the back of his head.

Gerard sent his fist flying into Tommy’s face again and again and again.

“Party…” I started. He didn’t listen to me and kept beating up on Tommy. “Party!” I yelled this time. I hooked a palm on Gerard’s elbow, trying to keep him from hitting Tommy again.

“Don’t fucking stop me!” he lashed out at me, his red hair fallen over his face.

“No!” I said hooking both of my arms around Gerard’s chest, using all my strength to pull him back with me. He lost his grip on Tommy’s neck, after which the traitor fell to the ground, rubbing his throat.

“Why did you pull me off? This asshole just sold out my family. I can’t let him live!” Gerard roared.

“Gerard,” I whispered to his ear. “This isn’t the answer.” He turned around to face me, looking at me through the strands that were fallen over his face.

“We still need him to lead us to Kobra, Fun, and Jet. He can’t die yet,” I told him.

Gerard relaxed from beneath my arms and I let go. Then he went down to Torque Tommy, picking him up by his jacket collar, and asked him, “Where did the SCARECROW agents take them?”

“To the BL/ind prison, in Zone 4. You’re never seeing your friends again…” Tommy croaked.

Gerard struck Tommy with the back of his blood-stained, gloved knuckles. “How do I get to the prison from here?”

Tommy squeaked out a laugh. “It’s suicide. You plan on going there yourself and getting your boys out alive? Good luck.”

“I’m getting my brothers out, whether I have to kill five or five hundred agents to do it,” Gerard replied. “Now, how do I get there?”

Tommy stared at Gerard, his mohawk flopping over his face. “Follow the road west for 23 miles. There’s a sign for a road called Vulture Gallows. Go down that road for two miles and you should reach the prison. You don’t seriously think you’re going to survive, do ya?”

“Well, if I go down, I ain’t going down by myself. Stellar, get the keys that are up on the wall.” Gerard turned back to me, pointing a finger at the wall on the opposite side of the room, with a small rack containing keys hanging from it. I walked to it, and picked one up. I looked on the side and it appeared to belong to a Firebird, complete with the image of the firebird on a faded, red leather strap connected to it.

“What the hell do ya think you’re doin’?” Tommy gasped out.

“We’re gonna borrow one of your cars,” Gerard told him with a cheeky smile.

“The hell you are…” Tommy started before Gerard took his yellow gun out and pointed it at his face.

“Listen, punk. The only reason you’re not dead right now is because I need your information.” He turned back toward me. “Stellar, grab Tommy’s gun from the desk.” I saw the magenta ray gun and did as I was told.

“Thank you for your generosity, Mr. Torque,” Gerard told him with a wink.

“You’re both dead! You won’t last a minute in that prison,” Tommy muttered.

“Maybe not by ourselves,” I remarked. “Party, I have an idea. And this scumbag’s gonna be a lot of use to us to help accomplish it…”

Tommy scoffed, “Pssh! I ain’t helpin’ you out!”

Gerard put his gun to Tommy’s forehead. “You’re helping us out whether you like it or not.”

“And what are ya gonna do if I decide not to? You won’t kill me. You need me,” Tommy smirked.

“Who says we have to kill you? How many limbs does a shitty scumbag like you really need…” Gerard asked as he aimed the gun down at Tommy’s legs.

“You wouldn’t!” Tommy breathed out nervously.

“We could always break your limbs the old fashioned way, if you’d like,” I added while crossing my arms.

Torque Tommy’s face was somber, and he was looking down, contemplating in his mind. “Fine,” he finally said. “I’ll help ya out. Provided you don’t kill me afterward.”

“Funny that you’re worried about _us_ double-crossing _you_ …” Gerard snarled.

“Eh, man, I’m sorry about your pals! But that vulture Korse has been on my balls about you guys for weeks! The creep’s looking for you and he said the next time he came round and I didn’t have any information, he’d roast my place!” Tommy argued, looking apologetic.

“So saving your place is more important than saving your friends?!” Gerard snapped.

“I wouldn’t exactly call y’all my friends…” Tommy muttered.

Gerard sent a fist into Tommy’s jaw.

“Ow!” Tommy let out.

Gerard turned to me. “Tell me about that plan, Stellar…”


	12. Chapter 12

“This ain’t gonna work…” Torque Tommy muttered as he steered the Firebird onward to the prison.

“Sure it is,” Gerard answered back, tapping his fingers on the window sill. I was sitting in the back, anxious for us to rescue the other guys.

A few minutes later, Tommy told us, “Alright, we’re comin’ up to the prison gates. Better tuck yourself under that blanket, Missy,” he directed towards me.

I looked ahead and saw a great white rectangular building that must have had at least 4 stories, not including possible underground floor levels. The gates were made of 15 ft high glass and the center doors were bordered by two SCARECROW agents. I could see that stupid smiley face on their masks even from this distance.

I looked at Gerard for one last time, giving him a smirk. “I’ll be right behind you.”

He smiled back. “Counting on it.”

The car came to a stop and Tommy and Gerard exited the car while I covered myself with a ratty old blanket, lying down on the black leather seats of the Firebird.

The plan is to have Tommy pretend that he is going to turn Gerard in to the prison guards. Once he does that, the guards will come out to take Gerard and we figure they are going to take him to the same place that they took Frank, Mikey, and Ray. This would be the part where Gerard and Tommy take out the guards and steal the key to the Fabulous Killjoys’ holding area.

This was all providing that Torque Tommy didn’t backstab us again. But that’s why I’m here, waiting. If they fail, or if Tommy bails, I’m the backup that’s supposed to take out the rest. No pressure, right?

They left the windows open so I could hear everything, and to know when my cue was. At least Gerard let me keep Tommy’s gun, much to Tommy’s dismay and ardent refusal. But in return, he let Tommy hold his gun, as an extra prop for our little act in which Tommy was to hold Gerard at gunpoint.

“Hold your fire! I’ve captured Party Poison, the last of them wanted criminals,” Tommy announced.

I could hear the bustle of the SCARECROW agents’ boots rushing to apprehend Gerard. He was yelling and I could hear the electronic whirr of the glass doors opening. One of the agents spoke on a receiver, in which a static reply came out. Any minute now other guards were supposed to come.

“My brothers better be fucking untouched when I find them!” Gerard was shrieking.

“Order–apprehend Killjoy Outlaw 0086 and take to cell block D-13,” came an order from one of the agents in a freakishly robotic sounding voice.

“Order commenced,” answered another agent in a similar sound.

This was it. I sat up and peeked from behind the passenger seat outside. Gerard had disarmed one of the agents and was fighting with two more. There were four agents altogether and Tommy had started shooting with the ray gun.

I pushed the seat forward and got out of the car, starting my sprint toward Gerard and Tommy. There was just one agent left, fighting with Gerard.

“Tommy, shoot this asshole!” Gerard yelled as he punched the agent. The agent didn’t seem to go down no matter how much Gerard had hurt him.

“Hey, I already played my part. Now you’re askin’ for favors,” Tommy said as he crossed his arms. I was just ten feet away, but they hadn’t noticed I was there yet.

“You fucker, when this is over, I’m gonna kill you,” Gerard snarled as the agent he was grappling with started swinging at him.

“I beg to differ. After all, you’re the one here without a gun and you’re wanted dead or alive, so I think I can still kill you right here, and get my 4 million C’s,” Tommy replied as he started pointing Gerard’s gun at him.

It only took me a second to react. I raised up the magenta gun in both of my hands, stepping forward, and aimed at Tommy.

“Gah! Fuck!” he cried out as he dropped Gerard’s gun from his hand—which I put a laser hole through. He continued writhing as I ran up toward the SCARECROW agent and shot a hole through him, too, ending Gerard’s struggle.

“…Stellar…” Gerard gasped as he scrambled forward to pick up his fallen gun. Tommy was cradling his right hand while weeping like a baby.

“I told you I’d be right behind you,” I answered Gerard. I turned toward Tommy, pointing the gun at him. “It was a good thing we counted on the possibility of this asshole turning on us again.”

“You fucking bitch! You shot my hand!” Tommy shrieked at me.

“And that was a lucky shot,” I answered while keeping my gun aimed at him.

Gerard kneeled forward and grabbed Tommy by the collar. “Tell me one reason why I shouldn’t kill you now…” he snarled.

Tommy laughed nervously. “Come on, Party, I got you this far. You know I was just bluffin’!”

Gerard had a fierce scowl on his face. “And you’re the reason I’m in this mess in the first place.” He exhaled. “But I’m not gonna kill you.”

“You’re not?” Tommy asked with a wide look in his bloodshot eyes.

“No. I’m gonna let BL/ind deal with the traitor who broke out the Fabulous Killjoys from prison.” With that, Gerard struck Tommy in the side of his head with enough force to make him unconscious and fall to the dirt.

“Get the cuffs off that agent’s back pocket,” he told me, pointing to the one I just shot.

I quickly walked over and picked out silicon cuffs, returning to Gerard. He turned Tommy over and fastened the cuffs on his wrists, making them extra tight. He snatched the Firebird’s keys from Tommy’s back pocket as well, zipping them into his jacket pocket.

Gerard stood up and put his gun back in the holster strapped to his leg. “That agent over there has the keys to the cells. I think he said D-13. That might be where Mikey and the others are.”

We walked over to said agent and picked up the keys, which were a set of little electronic cards hooked on a ring. “You think more agents are gonna come?” I asked.

“There’s no doubt about it. This place is probably hooked up with a ton of surveillance. We’ve probably just bought a little time. So let’s hurry.”

Gerard and I ran across the dirt into the open doors of the prison, hoping we’d be able to get out and see the sun shine again.

Once inside, the temperature dropped about thirty degrees below the outside temperature. It was cold and goosebumps rose from the back of my neck. All the walls were white, perfectly angled, with no one in sight. There was a main corridor and two flanking the right and left of it.

“Which way do we go?” I asked.

“I don’t know…” Gerard muttered while slowly walking forward. “There should be a diagram of the levels in this place.” He walked down the main corridor a few feet, then turned into what looked like an office. All the counters were made of glass and there were SCARECROW emblems on the walls. No one was here. It was kind of suspicious.

Sure enough, there was an emergency exit diagram, displaying all the levels in the prison, starting with Level 0, which we were on, Levels 1, 2, 3, 4 above us, and below us A, B, C, D, in that order. It was a metal sign tacked to the wall just above some sort of telephone system, which was probably meant for the agents to contact each other.

“Mikey and the others are down here,” Gerard stated as he pointed to the lowest level. “We gotta find the elevator.” He gestured to me and I followed his lead. We cautiously, but briskly, walked the corridor, turning left, seeing the shiny silver doors to the elevator. Gerard pressed the downward triangular button to start the elevator’s descent. It would be a while before it would get down from the 4th level.

“Don’t you think it’s a little weird that no one’s here?” I asked Gerard.

He turned to me, saying, “Of course it’s weird. Look alive—we gotta be ready for anything.”

The bell sounded as the silver doors of the elevator opened—And waiting just inside the doors were four SCARECROW agents decked in white suits with black vests.

Gerard and I froze for a second, as well as the agents. Apparently, we were all shocked to see each other. Gerard snapped out of it, and shot at the agents, knocking down two. The other two pointed their guns toward us, so Gerard and I ducked out of the way.

I raised the gun to my chest level and shot out to the agents from the corner out of the elevator.

“Killjoy Outlaw 0086 and accomplice have infiltrated the vicinity. Alert! Killjoy Outlaw 0086 and accomplice—“ the agent was silenced by Gerard shooting him in the back of the head.

He also sent a shot into the last agent’s chest, causing him to thud into the ground. There were black burn marks on the once immaculate walls of the elevator.

“Let’s go! We haven’t got much time,” Gerard told me as he dragged the agents’ bodies out of the elevator. I helped with the remaining bodies just as a siren started to loudly blare. Complete with red flashing lights, the high frequency siren let everyone know we were inside the prison.

“Emergency system activated,” a placid female voice called out from the walls. The lights in the elevator shut off.

“Shit…” Gerard whispered as he stood up.

“What does that mean?” I asked.

“It means we’ve got to find another way to get to the guys. Come on!” Gerard started off in a sprint from the elevator, headed down the left in the hallway. I sprinted after him, seeing flashes of red and white between the siren’s screeching.

Our footsteps made echoes in the wide hallway as we screeched and skidded across the grey marble. Yet ours weren’t the only footsteps creating echoes in this hallway.

I looked back to see about ten SCARECROW agents jogging after us in lockstep with white guns bared at the elbow.

“Party!” I exclaimed as I willed my legs to run even faster.

The redhead quickly glanced backward and then faced forward again as he turned into another small corridor.

“Do you even know where we’re going?!” I asked between breaths as I kept a steady pace behind Gerard.

“The emergency exit stairwell should be over here!” he called back to me. “That’s our only way to level D!”

The walls all looked the same dull, white color, so I couldn’t tell if we were running far or not. But eventually we reached a dead end.

“There! That’s the door to the stairwell!” Gerard exclaimed as he pointed toward the corner of the corridor. We ran up to the door and Gerard immediately turned the doorknob. It was locked.

I looked to the side of the door to see an electronic keypad with 12 buttons and a small slot to insert some kind of card.

“You’re gonna need a key!” Gerard hushed to me as he gestured to the ring of keys I had in my left jean pocket.

“Oh!” I said as I fumbled to quickly get the keys out. We need a card…but there’s about twenty different keys on this ring!

“Just try them out—quickly,” Gerard told me with a wide-eyed look as he turned his head to check the corridor behind us. I could hear the footsteps of the agents not too far away.

I put the small cards through the slot, maybe about five or six already, but none of them had worked. “Ugh, which one is it?” I growled out.

“Don’t worry, you’ll find it,” Gerard replied as he raised his ray gun and started walking down the corridor.

Shit, they’ll get here soon…

I started putting more of the tiny cards through the slot, getting a red flashing light each time. “Come on…” I gritted through my teeth as I slid another one through the slot. It didn’t work, either.

“Stellar, you’re gonna want to hurry,” Gerard told me. The footsteps of the boots had become louder now. I slid another card through the slot. It didn’t work.

“Shit…” I whined as I took another card from the ring and slid it in the slot. I only had about eight more on the ring.

“Apprehend Killjoy Outlaw 0086 and accomplice!” a robotic voice came from the end of the corridor. Gerard started firing from his yellow ray gun, knocking some of the agents down. They started firing back.

My hands were sweaty now, getting another key to slide through the slot. This one had to work. Please. Please let it work!

*PLINK*

The green light flashed with that little sound and a smile grew on my face as I heard the door’s lock release. “Party, come on! I got it open!” I hollered toward Gerard, who was firing back at the agents.

He glanced over quickly, running back toward me while still firing away. I opened the door quickly, waiting for Gerard.

“Do not let them escape!” an agent called.

Gerard got over to the door, but first fired a laser into the keypad to disable it before slipping inside the door with me.

“Lock it!” he hushed out as he got in. I turned this rather fancy-looking metal apparatus on the door that looked like a wheel. After turning it all the way, the lock clicked with a solid pound.

A flurry of pounding came from the other side of the door, which made me stumble backwards into Gerard. The agents kept pounding on the door as Gerard held his gun ready. After a minute or two, the pounding stopped. The agents probably figured they wouldn’t be able to get in—or they found another way to get us. But now it was quiet.

I exhaled for the first time in what must have been three minutes.

“You cool?” Gerard asked me. He seemed to have deflated as well, a tired look in his hazel eyes.

“Yeah. Now we just need to go get the others!” I replied as I looked toward the stairwell. The steps were a dark concrete, with no rails in between. I looked down to what appeared to be an infinitesimal abyss of concrete steps.

“How far do we have to go down?” I asked with a gulp.

“Just four floors down. It’ll be quick,” Gerard told me with a closed-mouth grin. He started walking down, leading the way. It was so quiet now, that I almost forgot about the flashing lights and sirens from upstairs. How the hell were we going to get out of here alive?

We made our way down the stairs—I was making sure not to look down and to stay as close to the wall as possible, which greatly amused Gerard.

“You’re scared of heights?” he asked with a laugh as he lightly stepped down the stairs in front of me.

“No… I’m scared of plummeting about forty feet to the ground and crushing my head on the concrete resulting in instant death,” I answered with a mutter. I was still trying not to think about it. Or the fact that it had seemed to become warmer the lower we went down. The air felt stuffier, heavier, and I was starting to sweat.

Gerard chuckled. “Don’t worry, that’s not gonna happen.”

We continued walking down, but I started getting paranoid.

“Gerard?” I called out to him.

He looked back with a smile on his face. “What is it now?”

“You take the keys. I don’t trust myself with them,” I told him, cautiously holding them by the ring.

“What are you talking about?” He giggled as he walked up a couple steps to take the keys from me.

“I don’t know…I feel like I’m going to drop them or something,” I said. I was feeling really sweaty now. I just need to stay by the wall…just until we get down to level D and everything will be fine…

“Okay, Leya,” Gerard told me with a small smile. “If it’ll make you feel better, I can hold your hand as we walk down, too…” he continued with a raise of his eyebrows.

I glared at him. “I can walk down the stairs by myself just fine, thank you…”

He giggled. “I’m just joking!”

I sarcastically chuckled. “Well aren’t you hilarious?”

We continued walking down the stairs—I kept a hand on the wall the entire time—and shortly enough, we got to Level D, a sign marked upon the door that would lead us into the main floor. There was a small window on the door that Gerard peered through.

“It doesn’t look like any guards are down here, but I’m not gonna take any chances,” he told me as he held the gun close to his shoulder level.

I raised my gun up, too, following behind Gerard as he opened the door to Level D.

The siren was wailing on this level, too. But there were no flashing red lights. Instead, it was very dark with several small rectangular lamps lighting the way with fluorescent light. They were spaced out so that there were intervals of darkness in the walkway.

Gerard stepped out cautiously, looking to his left and right. I followed looking out as well. The walkway extended seemingly forever in each direction.

“Do you see anything?” I asked.

“Shh!” Gerard whispered, putting a finger to his lips. He started walking out toward the right. After a few seconds, a light darted out from the distance.

“Was that—“ I started—before a succession of lights came our way.

Gerard started firing his ray gun into the distance but the rays of light kept coming our way.

“Stay close to the wall!” Gerard told me as he started to walk faster toward the incoming rays. I did as told but also raised my gun to start firing as well. Gerard took off running toward the lights and I put down my gun, worried I might hit him if I wasn’t careful.

Why the hell was he rushing off toward the enemy?!

I started after Gerard, but he had already reached the agents that were firing at us—and promptly shot both of them down. Ray wasn’t exaggerating when he said Gerard was a good shot…

I ran towards the reckless red-head, gasping, “You’re one crazy bastard, you know that?”

He smirked. “I didn’t want to waste any time.” His smirk fell as he continued, “Now to find my brothers.”

I looked around us. Though it was dark, we could see the cells lining the walkway, each bordered by a thick layer of glass. But there were no prisoners in these cells from what we saw.

“The cells reach all the way back there,” I told Gerard as I pointed back towards the direction where we came from. “They could be in any of these cells.”

Gerard’s brow creased as he looked down. “We’ll split it up. I’ll search back there, and you keep searching in this direction. If you find the guys, just holler or shoot out a laser to signal me. I’ll do the same.”

“Got it,” I said as I promptly walked ahead, making sure to peer into every single cell carefully. Each cell block contained nothing but concrete, a small, white container that was supposed to be a toilet, and a cot that looked far from comfortable. I hated to think about Frank, Ray, and Mikey being stuck in one of these cells for days.

I shuddered. I didn’t like this one bit. I needed to find them now.

I sped up my walk, still checking every cell, still looking back every now and then if Gerard had found them. After a while, I lost sight of him. I couldn’t believe this path went so far…

I reached a dead end.

There was just a dark, gray wall. I turned around and started running back. Surely Gerard must have found the guys. If they really were on this level, that is…

I started approaching where we split up, where the dead SCARECROW agents were lying on the floor. To be honest, it creeped me out having to walk past them.

I tiptoed over their bodies when I felt something latch onto my ankle.

“Ah!” I gasped as I looked down to see one of the agents grabbing it. I promptly fired my ray gun into their back, but not before they expended their last living energy to press a button on the cell block gate.

Before I could get my leg out of the agent’s grip, the ground started to break apart in sections.

“What the hell?” I kicked my leg away from the agent’s hand but found my foot falling back into nothingness.

Then my whole body fell.

It was the splash that shocked me more than the cold as I fell into darkness.

Water? Why would there be a water trench—

Ah! All the cuts on my arms and legs are starting to sting! What the hell?

I blinked open my eyes—

Oh my god—My fucking eyes! This isn’t water at all!

My nostrils were filling up with the vile liquid as I tried to swim to the surface—even though I don’t know to swim.

“Ahh!” I screamed out, gasping. I tried to open my eyes again, but it hurt so much, tears were streaming out. My nostrils burned and nearly all of my exposed skin started to feel like it was stinging.

I could hardly see anything but dark walls and my legs never touched the ground, so I’m assuming this is a deep hole I’ve fallen into.

I thrashed around in this stinging liquid, trying to grasp anything I could hold onto. I only found the intersection of two walls, that I tried to hold onto.

 “Gah!” I screamed as I scraped my knuckles against the wall. It must have been made out of some kind of stucco-material because it was sharp, pokey, and now my hands were burning as well.

I don’t know how long I’ll be able to hold out… I can’t grab onto anything—I can’t even fucking swim! All I was doing right now was kicking against the wall—feeling pangs of pain in my toes each time I did so—and waving my arms in this liquid so I didn’t fucking drown!

I tried to open my eyes again, but my own thrashing sent more of the toxic liquid into my eyes. “Grrr!” I let out as I was forced to squint again.

My whole body is starting to wear out. I can feel the muscles in my arms and legs, burning inside and out. Every single scrape I had acquired in the last week was screaming on fire. As if that wasn’t enough, my face started stinging so much and I was inhaling so much of the odor of the liquid that I was starting to feel light-headed and nauseated. I was trying so hard to keep my head above the liquid so I didn’t accidentally swallow it.

I need help.

I need Gerard.

But how the hell is he even going to notice? He must be so far away right now. And do we still need to go by Killjoy names—gah, this is so ridiculous!

I whimpered in frustration, continuing my thrashing. I have to try—if I can’t reach Gerard with my voice, I’m sure I’m going to die right here.

I tried to stop the shaking in my body to start, “Gerard!”

There was a few seconds of no response. Of course he’s not going to hear that. There’s a siren blaring. I could barely hear that.

“GERARD!” I screamed out at the top of my lungs. If he doesn’t hear me, it’s all over.

“GERARD!” I screamed again, almost swallowing the toxic liquid again. My throat burned.

“Damn it…” I exhaled, and then took in a deep breath.

**“GERARD!”**


	13. Chapter 13

I was panicking.

I was still here, treading this water—quite pathetically, I must say—with my voice hoarse from screaming so much.

But through the sound of the harsh siren, I could hear footsteps coming closer. I looked up out of the trench, trying to open my eyes as much as I could, the stinging feeling still there. My vision was blurry but I could make out a block of bright red. I hoped to God—or whoever was pulling the strings up there—that was Gerard…

“Leya!” Gerard called out to me from above.

“Gerard!” I hoarsely called back.

“What the fuck happened?!” he asked.

“One of the agents—he wasn’t dead,” I struggled to say while keeping afloat. “And he pressed a button, which opened this up.”

“Are you hurt?” he asked me.

“It just stings. And I can’t really see because it got in my eyes,” I answered.

“Fuck, I’ve heard of these trenches. It’s filled with ethanol. They’re meant to keep prisoners from escaping. Usually the trenches are ignited.”

“Ignited?!” Shit, if anything ignited in here, I’d be burned alive!

I could barely see Gerard, but I could tell that he was taking off his blue jacket. He knelt down to the edge of the trench and held his jacket down from the end of one sleeve.

“Grab onto my jacket!” he urgently told me.

I tried to make my way over toward where he was dangling his jacket. The blurry vision made all this much harder than it needed to be.

I reached my arm up all the way toward the jacket, but I couldn’t reach it. I took in another breath and stretched my arm to the fullest, but there were at least 12 inches between me and the jacket, although Gerard was stretching as much as he could, too.

“I can’t reach!” I called up to him, returning to my frenzied treading.

“Shit…” he grunted.

He was silent for a few seconds. Now that I noticed it, talking to Gerard took my mind off of the burning, and it didn’t seem to hurt much anymore.

“Just hold on, Leya. I’ll be back!” he told me as he started sprinting back toward the way he came from.

Well, that’s great. I just need to keep treading water for another couple minutes.

Shit. What if I never get out of here? What if we can’t get the guys out? Of course, Gerard could do it on his own. He’s perfectly capable.

I hit my knuckles against the sharp wall again on accident. “Ow…” I growled as my hands started to sting again.

This is ethanol… No wonder it stung so much. I’m sure it’s not a good thing it got into my eyes.

After a minute, I heard footsteps again.

“Gerard?” I called up. I still couldn’t see through my blurry, squinted eyes.

I could hear murmuring up there. Was he talking to himself or…?

“Ready?” I heard a soft voice say.

“Yup,” another voice grunted. I tried to look up and I could see more than one figure crouched at the edge. Then one started lowering down into the trench itself.

“Come on, Leya. I can only hang on here for so long,” I heard a familiar voice announce with a chuckle.

I started to let tears of joy come out of my eyes this time. It’s Frank!

I took in a deep breath. “Frank?”

“The one and only,” he answered. “Now get your ass over here so we can get you out!”

I made an awkward paddling motion with my arms as I went over near Frank. I couldn’t see his face, but I saw the yellow and black of his shirt. And it appeared to be Ray holding onto one of his arms, lowering him into the trench.

“Come on, grab my hand,” Frank gently told me as he was hanging onto Ray’s arm, his hand extended just a couple feet above the stinging liquid.

I placed a hand on the stucco-wall and reached up with my other, just barely making it! I held onto Frank’s hand tightly as he gripped mine tightly as well. He pulled me out of the ethanol up to his chest level in just one movement. He barely broke a sweat—at least it didn’t seem like he did.

“Ray, you doing ok?” he asked his friend.

“Yeah,” Ray grunted. “It would be great if you guys got out of there ASAP though.”

“You heard him. Climb on top of my shoulders, Leya,” Frank gently told me while still holding me up in a tight grip.

“Your shoulders?” I echoed.

“Yeah, Gerard’s right there. He’ll help you out. Ray only has so much strength,” Frank explained.

I gingerly started to hoist myself up, using Frank’s arm and the wall as a support. I couldn’t really see, so I had to brush my hands over Frank’s back and shoulder to find my grip.

“Sorry if I’m heavy,” I whispered as I hung onto Frank by his shoulders.

“Don’t even worry about it. Besides, you’re like a twig,” he answered with a giggle.

“I’m right here, Leya. Just reach for my hand,” Gerard told me from the left. I used my right hand to support myself on Frank’s shoulder as I reached my left arm to hold onto Gerard’s wrist. Using the wall, I stepped off and Gerard hoisted me above the precipice of the trench. He reached around my back and pulled me towards him, and I could smell that old leather jacket again.

I exhaled a deep breath as I finally released the tension in all of my muscles for the first time in what felt like a lifetime. I think I was shaking, but I couldn’t feel anything anymore.

“Are you okay?” Gerard asked as he brushed my wet hair out of my face. “You’re red all over, and your hands—”

“I’m okay, Gerard,” I answered as I pulled my hands away from his sight.

Something was missing. “Where’s Mikey?” I asked.

“Right here,” I heard Mikey say, not even five feet away from us.

I looked toward his voice, but could only see his red jacket and his blonde hair. I wanted to kind of cry at the fact that I couldn’t see any of them clearly.

But at the same time, I wanted to cry because Gerard and I did it. We got Frank, Ray, and Mikey out.

I heard Ray grunt as he pulled Frank out from the trench.

“I gotta hand it to you, Toro, you are one quick thinker,” Frank told him, dusting off his sleeves from the blurry look of it.

“Well, you were the lightest one here. And you’re stronger than me. It was a no-brainer to let you be the one to go all Indiana Jones down that trench,” Ray replied.

“Indiana Jones, eh?” Frank replied with a smug tone.

“Can you stand?” Gerard asked me.

I put my hands on the floor, starting to hoist myself up. My feet pulsed with pain. My socks were probably still soaked with ethanol. But I stood, although I grimaced.

“How are your eyes?” Mikey asked. I could feel him come close to me.

“I still can’t see that well,” I told him just before he placed his bare hands on my face, gently opening my eyes, causing more tears to unintentionally stream out from them.

“Gerard told us what happened. If you don’t get that ethanol flushed out of your eyes, there could be permanent damage,” Mikey told me.

With him forcing my eyes open, I was able to actually see some of his face. I saw his worried, serious, beautiful eyes and I smiled.

“Why the hell are you smiling?! That’s not a good thing!” he exclaimed.

“Of course not. I’m just smiling because—well, I kinda missed you… taking care of me, that is…” I told him.

He was silent for a few seconds. I wondered if it was just my blurry vision, or if he was really smiling.

“I wish I didn’t have to…” he replied with a sigh as he took his hands from my face. My vision was mostly blurry again once my eyes were squinting again.

“The good thing is that your eyes have a defense mechanism against this type of thing—tears. So hopefully that prevented some of the damage. Still, you’re going to have to wash out your eyes as soon as you can,” Mikey told me.

“Damn Mikey, how the hell do you know so much random shit?” Frank asked with a laugh.

Mikey shrugged in response.

“Anyway, we should probably get out of here soon—or come up with some kind of plan to get our ray guns back,” Frank started.

Gerard replied, ”There’s probably dozens of agents just waiting for us to get out of here. Whatever move we make, we can’t hold back or waste time.”

“That’s important and all, but can we just take a minute to, like, have a reunion? I fucking missed you guys!” Ray told me and Gerard as he came near us to give us both a big bear hug.

Mikey and Frank joined in on the group hug and for the moment, everything was perfect. All the sirens, the stupid cell blocks, and the agents all went away. I found my friends. The Fabulous Killjoys were all together again.

“Alright, group hug over!” Ray announced and we all let go.

“Before they took us down here, we were stripped of our guns and possessions. I think it must only be two floors up,” Frank told Gerard.

“You’re sure of that?” Gerard asked.

“Yeah, it was Level B,” Mikey added with a sniff.

“I’m guessing the elevator’s out of the question?” Ray remarked as he turned his head in the direction of the trench. There was no way we were getting over that. Even I could tell that the width of it was farther than any of us could jump.

“Even if we could reach the elevator, it’s been disabled,” Gerard answered. “We’ll have to take the stairs.”

“Well, what are we waiting for? Let’s bust outta this joint!” Frank exclaimed.

They started walking toward the stairwell entrance and I took a painful step forward, reaching for Tommy’s gun in the holster around my pant leg, which Gerard lent to me. I stopped. The gun wasn’t there.

“Shit, I dropped the gun in the trench!” I announced. I started walking back toward the little deathtrap.

“Where the hell do you think you’re going?” Gerard called after me, walking with his hands on his hips.

“I must have dropped Tommy’s gun in there,” I said as I hobbled toward the trench.

“Well there’s no way in hell you’re getting it back!” He grabbed me by the back of the collar on my leather jacket.

“But—“ I started.

“No buts! And why are you limping?”

“I’m not limping…” I retorted as Gerard dragged me away.

“Hey, Toro, get over here. I think you’re gonna need to carry her,” Gerard called toward Ray.

What the hell, I was just limping a little. I could still run if I needed to!

“Why the fuck are you gonna make Cyclops carry her?” Frank asked in an indignant tone.

“You did not just call me Cyclops…” Ray started with a grave tone.

“Cyclops?” I muttered.

“Not to mention, Leya’s as blind as a bat right now, so you’d pretty much have one fully-functioning eye for two people. I don’t like those odds…” Frank continued as he crossed his arms and shook his head.

“What do you mean only one fully-functioning eye?” I asked.

They were all quiet for a moment. Then Ray finally spoke out, “I kinda…got one of my eyes busted out when they arrested us.”

“One of your eyes is busted out?!” I exclaimed. I couldn’t see him well at all, so I could only imagine the worst.

“It’s not that bad!” Ray said with a reassuring tone. “But I look like Rocky Balboa at the end of Rocky IV.”

I raised an eyebrow in confusion. Mikey made a soft giggle.

Ray sighed. “Basically, one of my eyes is all swollen up and disgusting looking, and I only have one fully-functioning eye.”

“Which is why I don’t think you should carry Leya up all those stairs. You’re both handicapped and only disaster would ensue,” Frank muttered.

“Fine, you made your point,” Gerard muttered back to him.

“I don’t need anyone to carry me. I’m fine! Now let’s just get your ray guns back and get out of here!” I exhaled in frustration.

“Can you even see two feet in front of you?” Frank asked me with what I think was a smug look as he crossed his arms.

“Sure I can,” I answered. I wasn’t exactly lying. I could see… It’s just that everything was blurry. But I could make out general shapes.

“Then be my guest and lead the way, then, if you’re so damn sure,” Frank continued.

“I will!” I replied with what passed for a glare with squinted eyes.

I took a few steps forward, walking gingerly on the balls of my feet toward where Gerard and I entered the level. The only thing is when I turned toward the wall, I couldn’t see where the door started. It was too dark.

“Well?” Frank asked with a completely annoying tone.

“Frank, leave her alone. I’ll go ahead and carry her myself,” Gerard told him.

“No, wait. She assured us she could lead us out,” Frank continued.

I tried my hardest to see, straining my eyes and rubbing them open. I think I could see the glass window of the door four feet to my left. I walked toward the door, and touched a palm to it, feeling my way around for the doorknob.

Found it.

“Well, whaddayaknow?” I smugly called out to Frank. “I found the door.”

“Yeah,” he snorted, “After you passed it like 30 seconds ago.”

“Frank…” Gerard grumbled like a scolding parent.

“Hey, I’m just looking out for her! She’s practically blind and clearly something’s wrong with her feet—I just don’t want her getting hurt…” Frank explained.

“You could have just said that in the first place,” I muttered.

“What the fu—I did!” Frank argued.

“Can you all just stop bickering!” It was Mikey who made the outburst. “Fuck…I’ll lead the way. Gerard, you carry Leya. And Ray, you take Gerard’s gun. Frank, you just follow my lead and watch Gerard’s back. Now, let’s get the fuck out of here.”

I imagine everyone else was looking at Mikey in awe because it was quiet except for the siren again. Even though I couldn’t really see, my eyes widened.

Damn. Way to take care of business, Mikey.

He came rushing over to the door, peering through the window. “I think there are some agents up there,” he announced to the rest of the guys. “Let’s be ready for anything.”

I could barely make out seeing him push up the sleeves on his jacket and he cracked his neck in an oddly appealing way. I couldn’t help but be in awe of how awesome he was right now.

“As for you, don’t argue,” he directed toward me while he started putting on his gloves.

“Okay,” I answered with a smile.

Gerard walked toward me. “Alright, I’m giving you a piggy back ride and I’m not taking no for an answer.” I could see him kneel down, getting ready for me to climb onto his back. I exhaled and obliged, clinging to Gerard’s shoulders. Red was all I saw as his soft hair brushed my face.

“You liar, your hands are all bloody!” Gerard exclaimed as he looked back at me.

“They’re fine! Just a little scratched up,” I argued, trying to fold my hands into fists.

“You really need to get yourself a pair of gloves so this doesn’t happen so often,” Gerard argued back.

“Ray, get up here with me,” Mikey ordered, cracking his gloved knuckles this time.

I heard Ray come over and say, “I’ll be sure to keep you covered, Mikey.”

“Great. All we need is enough time to get to Level B. That should only be four flights of stairs. You guys ready for this?” Mikey turned around to see all of us.

“Ready!” Gerard answered.

“Me too,” I answered with a smile.

“Fuck yes, I’m ready,” Frank replied.

“Ready when you’re ready, Mikey,” Ray told Mikey.

I could hear Mikey inhale and exhale deeply. “Okay. Let’s go.”

He opened the door slowly, and walked in with Ray right behind him. Gerard followed—with me on his back—and Frank followed after us.

“Stay close to the walls,” Mikey whispered to the rest of us. He quickly went up the concrete steps. Gerard was making steady progress as well, much to my surprise. Although, I could feel him starting to sweat from his hair  after a minute.

It was silent except for the sound of our breathing. It couldn’t be just me; it was stuffy and warm in here. I tried to see as I looked up, but could only see varying shades of gray amidst small details of stairs.

“Ray, I think I saw a few agents up there,” I heard Mikey whisper. “When we get to the top of the next flight of stairs, be ready to shoot.”

It was only five seconds until a heard the dart of lasers coming out way.

“Now, Ray!” I heard Mikey shout. I quickly lost him as his red jacket blurred out of my sight. Bright colors danced in front of me as Ray fired back to the agents.

Gerard stayed near the corner of this stairwell as Frank ran ahead of us.

“Mikey, watch out!” Frank shouted.

I heard a scuffle from above us, and then something heavy fell down the stairwell. All the hair stood on my neck. That was exactly what I was afraid of as I went down these stairs earlier.

“Is Mikey okay?” I whispered to Gerard.

“He’s fine. It’s the agents I’d be worrying about…” Gerard replied to me.

“Ray, I’m going up to help him. You cover Gerard and Leya,” Frank told Ray just before he darted out of my sight as well.

“Got it,” Ray replied before he fired off a few more lasers, getting closer to me and Gerard. I really hated not being able to help.

Another body flew down the stairwell. I felt Gerard’s hands tighten under my knees.

“We have to get up to the next floor!” I urgently told Ray and Gerard. “There’s probably too many of them.”

Gerard quickly sighed. “Ray, she’s right. Frank and Mikey can’t hold them all off without guns. Cover me as I get us up there!”

Gerard started off, huffing and puffing as he quickly carried me up the stairs. Flashes of laser beams went past us as Ray hurried behind, shooting back lasers of his own.

“Get to Level B!” Gerard yelled toward Frank and Mikey. He let go of one of my legs to get the ring of keys out of his jacket pocket.

“You first!” Mikey yelled back as it looked like he sent a kick to an agent, causing them to fall down the stairwell like the others.

Gerard ran up a few steps more and we got to a door just like the one to Level D. Just like the door up on the first floor, this one had a keypad with a key slot.

“I got this, you guys hurry!” I could hear Ray yelling. I looked back, and could see the blur of Frank and Mikey running after us. Gerard quickly found the right key for the door and hurried in as soon as it unlocked.

“Ray, come on!” Frank hollered as he and Mikey slipped inside the door.

Just four seconds later, Ray came bounding through the door, shooting at the keypad just before getting in.

“Lock it, quick!” Gerard yelled.

Frank went forward to the keypad next to the door and pressed a button, followed by the pounding of the lock.

“That’s only gonna hold us in here for so long…” he exhaled.

“More like that’s only gonna keep _them_ out there for so long…” Mikey added. He was resting against the pasty white wall, breathing in and out heavily.

“Gerard, you can let me down now,” I told him.

“You sure?” he asked as he turned his head back toward me.

“Yeah, I’ll be fine!” I answered with a smile. He gently lowered his arms underneath my legs and I hopped off of his back onto the floor. My feet still hurt, but not nearly as bad as before. I could walk normally now.

“They took us down that way to take away our weapons,” Ray told Gerard as he pointed to the end of the hallway.

“Let’s get going, then!” Gerard announced.

All five of us started off walking, following behind Ray. Although the siren was wailing and the lights were flashing on this level, it was kind of peaceful in the sense that no one was in imminent danger at the moment.

We walked down the hallway, to the left in another one, and to the right of the next hallway that intersected until we reached the doorway of another corridor bordered by glass.

“Do you have a key that’ll open this door?” Frank addressed to Gerard.

“I hope so…” Gerard answered as he started testing keys in this door’s keypad.

As we waited for Gerard to find the right key, I started to rub my eyes.

“You shouldn’t do that,” Mikey immediately told me. He was standing to my left. I lowered my hand.

“Why not?” I asked him.

“Because you’re only going to rub the solution into your eyes, when you should be flushing it out,” he answered.

Okay, smarty pants…

“Hmm…now that I think about it… Ray, give me the gun for a sec,” Mikey muttered as he took off the glove from his left hand, putting it in his pocket.

“Sure,” Ray said with an uncertain tone.

Mikey took the gun from Ray’s hand and stepped back a few feet. He raised the gun up and shot at the ceiling.

“What the hell are you doing?” I asked.

He didn’t answer me and shot at the ceiling again. Two seconds later, water came pouring down from the ceiling.

“Whoa!” I exclaimed as Mikey grabbed me by the elbow to stand directly underneath the water. I definitely didn’t plan on getting drenched twice today, let alone at all.

“Open your eyes as much as you can,” Mikey yelled at me over the siren and the sprinkling water. I tried to open them in vain, only to have Mikey clamping his left palm over my eye, pouring water into it.

I blinked and jerked away from his hand. “You’re gonna have to keep on doing this to your eyes to get the ethanol flushed out,” he urged.

I extended my palms out to catch the water and cupped it to my eyes, blinking each time I did so. It felt so cool and nice.

“Okay…random shower. Nice,” Frank remarked with a chuckle.

After about ten seconds of flushing out my eyes, I heard Gerard yell, “I got the door open! Let’s go!”

“Come on!” Mikey said as he pulled me along to follow the others.

I was still flushing my eyes as he pulled me, so I was blinking and patting at my eyes still. But I finally was able to open my eyes fully without them stinging.

And I could finally see.

The glass corridor was lit up so everything was a bright white—the floor, the walls, and even the doors. I looked to my left at Mikey. He was drenched in water, his golden hair plastered to his face, fallen over his dark hazel eyes. His eyes looked tired and I could see a few red marks on his face, probably battle wounds. His wet skin shimmered from the reflection of the bright lights.

“I can see,” I beamed.

Mikey looked down at me, smiling. “Good!”

“So that’s what that was all about,” Frank remarked from the front of the line. He looked like he hardly had a scratch on him, although he still had a bandage over the laser wound on his face. “Pretty damn dramatic way to go about it, though…” he chuckled.

“Well, I didn’t see any bathrooms around. Did you?” Mikey answered.

Frank giggled. “No, I did not. Still, fire sprinkler water is usually dirty. You might have made her eyes even worse off.”

“But I didn’t!” Mikey replied defensively with a frown. “Of course I considered that. But I figured since it’s BL/ind and even our very own toilet water in the jail cell was cleaner than anything out in the desert, maybe the fire sprinkler water would be okay too!”

“Okay… Sorry I doubted you,” Frank answered as he put up his hands in defense.

“It’s okay. I’m just…a little tense right now,” Mikey answered as he pushed the hair back out of his eyes.

“Thanks for doing that,” I told Mikey. “I was starting to wonder if I’d ever be able to see normally again.”

“No problem,” he quietly replied.

“Mikey, you’re one crazy kid, you know that?” Ray remarked with a laugh as he looked back.

“I was just acting on instinct,” Mikey answered as he lowered his head with a sheepish grin.

I finally saw Ray’s face. It was covered in bruises, and his right eye was swollen to the size of a golf ball. That eye wasn’t even closed all the way. It looked terribly painful.

“Oh, Ray… Your face,” I started.

“Don’t worry about it, Leya. It looks worse than it feels. Trust me,” Ray replied to me with a smile.

“Well, we’re going to take care of that as soon as we get out of here,” I told him with a pat on his arm.

Ray smiled back at me and turned around. Gerard and Frank had already reached the long, rectangular room that contained pale blue shelves upon shelves of containers marked with cell block numbers.

“D-11…D-12…D-13!” Gerard exclaimed as he found the container that held Frank, Ray, and Mikey’s weapons. He reached up and pulled out the container from its shelf, holding it out for the guys to get their stuff out.

The three reached into the container at once, pulling out their ray guns, their shades, their scarves, weird gadgets, and Frank even pulled out a bizarre mask. The dark-haired man pulled on the mask halfway over his head with a grin.

“What the hell is that?” I asked with a laugh. It looked like some purple and neon-green, zombie-looking thing.

“Frankenstein,” he answered matter-of-factly. “Please tell me you know who Frankenstein is…” he continued with a roll of his eyes.

The name Fun Ghoul, the Halloween tattoo, and the small Frankenstein obsession—there had to be a connection there, but I just smiled and answered, “Of course I know who Frankenstein is. They still had Halloween and horror movies around when I was a kid. I’m just wondering why you have a Frankenstein mask on you!”

“Some people wear warpaint; I like to wear a mask,” Frank replied with a shrug and a smile.

“Here’s your gun. Thanks,” Ray told Gerard as he handed him back his yellow gun.

“Anytime, Toro,” Gerard answered with a pat on Ray’s back. He took a couple of gadgets that looked like octagonal-shaped digital watches and held one out to me.

“Take one. We’re blowing this place up once we get out,” he told me.

“What is that?” I asked.

“Handheld land mines,” he answered with a crooked smile.

“Are you sure you trust me with that?” I asked as I put my hands up in protest.

“Yeah,” Gerard answered with a toothy grin. “Besides, you don’t have a gun on you—I need to equip you with some sort of defense—“

I protested, “I’m not sure I trust myself with that, Gerard. I’ve never even used anything like that before—“

“Take my gun,” I heard Mikey say from behind me. He had put on his black shades and was in the process of taking his gun out of his pant holster.

He held the red gun out to me and I gingerly took it. “Are you sure about that?”

“Yeah, I’m sure,” he answered. “You proved yourself with Frank the other day, and you made it this far. Besides, I got my kung-fu skills. I don’t need a ray gun.”

I smiled. “Kung-fu skills?”

“You’ll see,” Mikey replied with a straight face as he put his left glove back on again.

“Ugh, my cigarettes!” Frank sighed in ecstasy. He had one in his mouth as he took out his lighter.

“Is this the right time to be smoking?” Ray asked with a raised eyebrow.

Frank took a long drag and puffed out smoke before taking the cigarette between two fingers and answering, “Toro, this is _exactly_ the right time to be smoking.”

He held out his cigarette to Gerard, with a suggestive expression in his raised eyebrows.

“No, I’m good, thanks,” Gerard answered. Frank shrugged in response, taking another drag. To be honest, cigarette smoke made me cough so I intentionally started walking back toward the entrance of the corridor to be away from it.

“Now, we just gotta find a way to get out of here alive,” Gerard announced as he started walking in my direction. “How many agents would you say there were just in that stairwell, Mikey?”

“There were at least twenty in there,” his brother replied. “There were six alone on our floor before you got here. I’d say there’s about four dozen of ‘em altogether in the building.”

“But you got rid of, like…ten,” Gerard told Mikey.

“And we got rid of about ten agents ourselves,” I added.

“So that leaves us with about thirty agents to take care of,” Ray stated.

“Thirty against five? Sweet,” Frank remarked.

“You think we can do this?” Gerard asked as he turned to his brother.

Mikey nodded silently.

Gerard looked at all of us before facing forward with a grin. “Well then, Killjoys… Time to make some noise.”


	14. Chapter 14

We started walking back the through the corridors that led us to the storeroom for the possessions. I shook my hair as I walked, getting the water out of it. Frank was twirling his ray gun in one hand, cigarette still smoking out the side of his mouth. Gerard and Ray led in the front, while Mikey and I flanked the back.

For some odd reason, I was feeling really pumped up about this now. My feet didn’t hurt anymore and I was antsy to get shooting, now that I had a weapon again.

“Seeing as there’s gonna be a bunch of agents just waiting for us to get back to the stairwell, maybe we can find another way to get out of here?” Ray suggested to Gerard.

“Yeah, I think you’re—“ Gerard started. He stopped in his tracks, causing Frank to bump into him.

“What the fu—“ Frank started before Gerard turned around, pushing him back.

“Run! The agents got in!” Gerard hollered.

I spun around and started sprinting—with no idea where to go—letting Mikey lead the way. He turned left in the next hallway crossroads, and the rest of us were hot on his heels.

“Where the fuck are we going?!” Mikey asked as he quickly turned back to the others.

“You’re the one leading the way, genius!” Frank yelled as he spat the cigarette out of his mouth.

“Just keep going, Mikey! There’s got to be another stairwell in this direction!” Gerard answered.

I could start hearing the sound of the agents’ boots over the siren, as well as the sound of everyone else’s huffs and puffs while we were running.

We turned into another corridor and reached a dead end. This time, there was no door waiting in the corner.

“What do we do?” Mikey gasped.

“We’ll just turn around and find another way,” Gerard gasped out in return.

“Uh, guys…” Ray started as he tugged at Gerard’s sleeve.

We all turned around to see the agents running toward us.

Shit!

“Start firing!” Frank yelled as he took a couple steps forward and started shooting his ray gun.

I raised my gun and started firing for the ones that were closest to us. Gerard and Ray started firing as well. Five agents went down.

“We gotta keep moving!” Frank yelled as he tugged at my sleeve. We started running forward—I admit, I was scared—but we shot as we went, confusing the agents until they got shot down by us.

Ray, Gerard, and Mikey followed us, dodging lasers. And then I saw Mikey sprinting forward, sending out punches and kicks in a speed I didn’t think was possible for a human being. He had one agent flailing against the wall while he spun around with one leg in the air hitting the ribs of another agent. In the next second, he was ducking and grabbed the gun off an agent, smacked that agent in the face with their own gun, and cracked another fist in his face, sending him down. Mikey was just a red blur moving in between agents, shooting them down, and even getting ahead of us.

I continued shooting at any agent I could see within my vision. Within two minutes, all the agents were down, lying scattered across the floor in a huddled heap.

“Is everyone okay?” Gerard asked as he quickly darted his eyes between all of us.

“Yeah,” Frank and I replied in unison.

“Yup,” Ray replied.

“Mmhmm,” Mikey answered.

I took a second to take it all in, overlooking the thirteen agents’ bodies, looking down at the red smoking ray gun in my hand, while the siren still whined and red light flashed.

“Shit, that was really fucking awesome,” I exclaimed with a laugh.

Frank turned over to me, chuckling. “Come on, you crazy kid,” he told me as he hooked an arm around my shoulder. We started walking back into the corridor.

“No, I mean, seriously! Mikey… what the… That was the craziest thing I’ve seen since…ever…” I continued rambling in awe.

I could hear Gerard laughing behind us. “They don’t call us the Fabulous Killjoys for nothing…”

“Where did you learn to fight like that?!” I continued, spinning around to see Mikey.

He was smiling sheepishly as he held an agent’s white gun in his right hand. “I told you, I know kung-fu…”

Frank giggled again. “I think you need to focus a bit of that excitement on getting out of here, Leya.”

“I think it’s cute how excited she is,” Ray remarked with a laugh.

“What do you mean, ‘cute’?” I asked Ray. It didn’t feel like a compliment.

“What? Cute is cute. You’re cute when you get all hyped up like that,” Ray continued as he smiled at me.

“I’m cute?!” I exclaimed. I could feel my cheeks warming. What the hell, can’t I take a compliment without getting bashful?

Frank was laughing so much he almost had to bend over to catch his breath. “You are one hilarious chick, you know that?” he wheezed out.

“Almost as hilarious as the name Fun Ghoul…” I answered as I ducked out from under his arm that was heavily resting on my shoulder.

“Will you all stop acting like kids? Save it for after we get out of here!” Gerard told us as he quickly walked past us. “I think we should get back to that first stairwell. I think all of the agents from there must have come in here. And even if there are some in there, I doubt there will be that many.”

Frank cleared his throat to keep from laughing and I tried to calm down. But I’m feeling really exhilarated right now!

“Hey…speaking of Killjoy names, are we still using them around agents?” I directed toward Gerard.

“It might be best not to mention our real names out loud, but even so, no agent is coming out of here alive with the knowledge of our names,” he answered me.

I don’t know if it was because of the excitement, or if I had just realized that there was a possibility I might not get out of here alive, but my heart was starting to beat really fast. It was going to be kill or be killed to get out of here. In fact, my life isn’t even a liability here; the agents could kill me and it wouldn’t matter to them. They just want the Fabulous Killjoys…

“Don’t worry,” Frank whispered in my ear as we walked on. I looked over at him to see his mouth curved in a crooked smile.

I smiled back. He could tell that I was freaking out in my head, huh…

“I’m not worried,” I answered back. That was such a blatant lie.

Frank rolled his eyes and lightly chuckled, “Totally believe you… Just know I got your back out there.”

“Alright…but I’m not worried,” I replied.

“Mmhmm,” Frank replied with a smirk, his dark hair unable to hide the shine in his eyes. I’m sure he was delighted at seeing right through me.

We followed Gerard to the door that led to the main stairwell. He peered up through the door’s window to see if any agents were there.

“I think the coast is clear…” he directed to all of us as he lowered his ray gun. “Come on.”

It was quiet once again in the stairwell, but I couldn’t help but feel on edge. Although we only need to get through the stairwell, the hallways on the first floor, and out the gates of the prison, the SCARECROW agents will stop at nothing to keep us from escaping.

“What’s the plan once we get to the first floor?” Ray asked as we walked up the concrete steps.

We all waited for Gerard to answer. “They’ll be waiting for us up there. We’ll just have to fight our way out,” he told us.

That’s it? That’s the master plan? Just fight our way out?

“At which point do we blow the place up?” Frank asked.

Gerard took a few seconds to answer. “Well, the land mines are programmed to explode 30 seconds after activation. But we should only activate them when we’re sure we can get out of here within 30 seconds.”

“Blowing up this place seems fun and all, but is it really necessary? Aren’t there other prisoners in here?” I asked.

“Well, BL/ind prisons are kind of like animal shelters,” Gerard replied. “You don’t last a week in here. Besides, not many Killjoys roam this close to Battery City, so I’m 99% sure there’s no one else in here.”

“Still… do we need to blow the place up?” I asked.

“The second we’re out of this prison, the SCARECROW agents are going to go after us. I can’t risk all our lives like that,” Gerard answered while facing forward.

I was quiet for a few seconds. This was getting more dangerous by the minute.

“Is that before or after we have to face about thirty agents with guns?” I asked.

“I’ll make sure you get out of here alive, Leya,” Gerard said as he looked back at me with a soft look.

I exhaled. “That’s not what I’m asking! This land mine plan of yours? It’s dangerous! There’s going to be a bunch of agents out there shooting at us, and then we have to blow the place up and get out of here in a matter of 30 seconds—It sounds nearly fucking impossible! And you’re trying to make me feel better by telling me you’ll make sure _I_ get out of here alive?

“I didn’t come here to be protected! I came here to get my friends out of prison. Now, I’ll let you go through with this plan, because I know that you’re right, and the agents will come after us if we don’t kill them first. But don’t you dare try to do something heroic and stupid to save the rest of us if something goes wrong. We’re _all_ getting out of here alive.”

All four guys stopped and looked at me with wide eyes. And they were quiet. I could feel myself starting to blush with embarrassment.

I put a hand through my wet hair to tuck it behind my ear—something I do when I feel self-conscious. “Excuse me for being an emotional teenager…” I muttered as I started walking again, past the agape faces of the Fabulous Killjoys.

They were quiet as they followed after me up the stairs. It was only a few seconds before I reached the door to the first floor, seeing the giant black ‘Level 0’ on the gray surface. They keypad was there, waiting for us to open the door.

I looked back toward Gerard, who still held the keys. His red hair flopped over his grave, hazel eyes. He met my gaze and the look didn’t change. Shit, I probably pissed him off with that little outburst.

The rest of the guys joined us at the door, and we all switched gazes between each other.

“This is it, guys,” Gerard started.

They all got their guns out, looking expectantly at Gerard. There was no window on this door, so we weren’t going to be able to scope out the scene before we went out.

“Well, at least now we know for real what they do to guys like us in prison,” Frank stated with a smirk. The rest of the guys lightly laughed. “I was a bit disappointed there were no push-ups in drag, though…”

I had no idea what the hell they were talking about, but I was glad Frank was lightening up the mood a bit.

“You ready, Gee?” Mikey asked his older brother as he came up to him.

Gerard smiled and answered, “When you are, Mikey. And just like Leya said, we’re all getting out of here alive.”

I looked over at the guys and they all smiled at me. “Killjoys never die. That’s what you said, right, Mikey?” I directed towards him.

“Right,” Mikey told me as he turned around. “Hey, how about we do the ring of high fives, just for old time’s sake?”

Gerard smiled and answered, “Fuck yeah. Come on, Leya,” he told me as he beckoned with a palm.

We all gathered close and high-fived each other. Frank was the last one for me to high five and he ruffled my hair as he gave me my high five. “Don’t worry so much. And I know you just said you don’t want to be protected, but regardless, I’m making sure nothing happens to you.”

I started to protest before I was interrupted by the *PLINK* of the open door. Gerard turned back to all of us and gave us a determined look in his eyes. He slowly pushed the door until it was wide open. “Let’s go.”

We filed out through the door quickly and started through the corridor. There were agents on the floor, from when Gerard and I first fought our way to the stairwell. Once we rounded the first corner, I caught sight of the black boots of several agents and hushed out, “They’re here!”

Gerard motioned for us all to stay to the side of the corridor where it angled, so we would ambush the incoming agents.

I looked toward him, until he motioned with a wave of his hand for us to make our move. Once the agents came within five feet of us, we all rushed out into the corridor and started shooting, taking down six agents just in that barrage. But behind those six were about ten with their firearms raised up against us.

“Get down!” Gerard shouted as he turned back into the other corridor while the agents started to send out their lasers.

Frank and Ray were right next to me, and they both put a hand on each of my shoulders as I literally dropped face first onto the marble. We were all down on the floor on our elbows. I looked up and could see the bright colors darting just above me.

Frank and Ray were still firing off their guns to the enemy while lying on the floor, taking down two agents. I raked out the red gun I borrowed from Mikey and started shooting as well.

Mikey and Gerard came running through the corridor again, shooting like crazy. They ducked and got close to the walls, still making their way to the agents.

At that moment, Frank rapidly got to his feet and rushed the nearest agent, taking them down with his fists.

“Come on, we got to keep moving!” Ray told me as he helped me off the ground. We ran ahead of Frank, Mikey, and Gerard, shooting at the agents on the way.

I remembered the way Gerard and I got to the stairwell and yelled to Ray, “This way!” As I rounded the corner. I yelled to the others, “Guys! Come this way!”

Unfortunately, that also got the attention of the remaining agents in there, who promptly came running after Ray and me.

I could feel myself wearing out from the running as I reached the intersection to the office. But more agents came from the other side of the hallway, shooting out at me and Ray.

“Duck!” Ray told me. This time, I dropped without hesitation and I looked up to see that some of the agents had accidentally shot each other. In the next second, I could see Frank, Mikey, and Gerard running in, shooting at the SCARECROW agents around us. I noticed Mikey’s black sunglasses were gone and Gerard had blood dripping across his left forearm.

Then _even more_ agents came from the main hallway that divided the office. We all scattered and started a firefight within the office hallway.

I found myself rammed up against Frank, who had just sharply pulled back his left arm, after shooting the gun with both hands. His Frankenstein mask was gone and his mop of hair was a tangled mess.

“Gah!” he let out as he briefly cradled his left elbow.

“Are you okay?” I frantically gasped out.

“I’m fine! Get that agent over there!” Frank yelled as he shot one just three feet away from us.

It was then that I noticed the glass doors of the exit were in clear sight! I got up off my knees and shot at the agent 15 feet away from me. He went down.

I looked around for the other guys. Ray and Mikey were just behind about ten feet away fighting off three agents, and Gerard was—where the hell was Gerard?!

In the middle of the bright laser beams flying near me, I could see Gerard setting up one of the land mines at one of the office desks. Is he fucking crazy?!

I mustered up enough strength to shoot at the four remaining agents in the hallway. Frank had just shot down his last one.

“Gerard’s setting up a land mine!” I yelled to Frank. His brow creased and he hurried over to where Gerard was to fight off a couple more agents.

I rushed over to help with Mikey and Ray.

“More are coming!” Ray yelled as he shot down another agent. We ducked as a couple agents shot our way. I looked to where Ray was looking, and sure enough, there were eight agents getting out from the elevator.

Fuck…

“We need to get out of here, now!” I yelled across the hall to Mikey.

“We can take the rest of these guys!” Mikey protested as he was shooting down another agent.

I ran across the hallway, ducking between lasers to get to him. “Mikey, we have to go! Your brother just set up a land mine in the office!”

Mikey’s eyes widened as he realized why we had to leave _right now_.

“Why the fuck didn’t he wait until we were clear here?” he angrily asked as we started running out from the hallway.

“I don’t know! I don’t think he knew more agents would be coming!” I answered as I looked back.

I saw Frank and Gerard getting out from the office in a hurry. “There’s more agents coming from the elevator!” Ray yelled to Gerard.

Gerard creased his eyebrows. “That doesn’t matter… we have to leave right now!”

“Let’s go!” Frank hollered as he urged us to get to the exit doors.

We ran across the gray marble without any agents in our way now, all the way out the glass doors. Frank stopped. I stopped short, too, while the rest of the guys went ahead out the doors, letting in the bright sunshine.

“Frank, what are you—“ I started. He was kneeling down next to the door frame.

“Get going! I’m setting up this land mine here, too,” he told me with a wave of his hand.

“Why?!” I asked.

Frank gave me an annoyed look which meant “Get the fuck out of here.”

I didn’t listen to him and stayed, shooting at the agents that were coming this way. I looked down frequently at him, until he finished and got up, practically shoving me out the glass doors with him.

We ran out into the bright, hot light of the sun. I was blinded once again for a couple seconds, running with Frank by my side across the crunching dirt.

I looked ahead and saw that Gerard, Mikey, and Ray were stopped. Once I got closer, I could tell why.

The glass gate was closed again.

Gerard started to turn back, reaching into his jacket pocket before Mikey grabbed his shoulder.

“I have to…” I could hear Gerard say as Frank and I walked closer. “Take the keys. You’re driving,” he said as he handed Mikey the keys to the Firebird.

“No, I’m not letting you sacrifice yourself to save us,” Mikey argued as he followed Gerard.

Gerard grabbed Mikey by the shoulders and shook him. “Mikey, LET ME GO!” Gerard screamed in his younger brother’s face. Mikey’s face had dropped and he shrunk back.

Gerard started sprinting across the dirt, his red hair whipping in the wind. He caught gazes with me and Frank as he rushed back toward the building.

“You go ahead, Leya,” Frank told me just before he started sprinting off after Gerard.

“What the—Frank!” I hollered as I started following him, too. But I didn’t get too far because Mikey had sprinted after me and was holding me back with his arms wrapped around my torso.

“Let me go, Mikey!” I yelled as I struggled to break from his freakishly strong hold by trying to pry off his arms. My feet skidded in the gravelly dirt.

“No! Gerard gave me the keys so we could get out of here! I’m not letting you go in there to get yourself killed!” he answered me.

“But Frank and Gerard are still in there!” I protested. Mikey was too strong for me. His feet seemed permanently planted in the dirt, and he was nearly squeezing me to death with his arms.

I stopped struggling and Mikey stood up straight again, still not letting go. “I know. That’s why I can’t let you go in there, too,” he said with a calm voice. “They’re going to get out. Just wait.”

“Guys! The gate is opening!” Ray yelled to us from the glass gate. Mikey and I looked back to see the glass doors indeed separating. So Gerard did it. But how long do they have—

BOOM!

I held my breath as my whole body shivered. I could feel Mikey’s hands freeze up as well.

“We have to go,” Mikey said in a voice that seemed devoid of emotion. He released me from his hold and started walking toward the gate.

_I can’t go through this again…_

I started running across the dirt toward the prison.

“Leya!”

I could hear my name being yelled, but it seemed far away, like miles away. That was only one land mine that went off. It’s still possible for Frank and Gerard to be alive.

I just about got to the glass doors of the prison when they threw open, releasing dark gray smoke. My heart shuddered in fear as I noticed figures moving within the smoke.

I put my arms up in front of me in defense, only to have my wrist roughly yanked away. Once the smoke cleared and I realized I was being dragged in the direction of the gate, I strained my eyes to look closer. It was Frank.

He was coughing out, his face and clothes smeared in gray ash and his dark hair flung over his eyes and nose. His bandage over the side of his face was gone, revealing a pink scar from his lip to the middle of his cheek. He was holding Gerard by the waist with his left arm, who had his arm grasped around Frank’s neck. I looked over at Gerard, and his hair was almost completely powdered in gray, and his face had marks of black and a few cuts on it as well. He looked dazed.

“You two are fucking crazy!” I scolded with a smile.

“Speak for yourself, Princess Leya,” Frank croaked out as we kept running.

“I’m sorry, Leya… I know you said you didn’t want me doing anything stupid…” Gerard breathlessly apologized.

I sighed. “I forgive you.”

We ran toward the glass gate as another BOOM! broke the air. I looked back and saw the flames and glass bursting out of the building. Then the building started to collapse onto itself—sending clouds of ash and smoke our way.

“Oh shit…” I breathed out as we ran across the hot dirt. I was already sweating profusely because of the heat from the sun.

The building continued its collapse, looking like it was hunching over in the front. We continued running toward the open gate. Mikey and Ray were waiting for us just outside of it. As we came near, I could see Mikey’s jaw drop and his eyes soften, and it looked like a huge weight had been lifted off of his shoulders as he saw his older brother still alive.

He came close and hugged Gerard, holding him close with a palm on the back of his dusty head. “For a second, I thought—“ Mikey started.

“It’s okay, Mikey,” Gerard answered in a raspy voice as he weakly clung onto his brother’s red leather jacket.

“Help him into the car. We have to leave now,” I told Mikey and Ray as I finally put the red gun I was holding in my pant holster.

“Oh, fuck!” I heard Frank say. I looked back toward him and saw him sauntering off toward the newly conscious body of Torque Tommy. His skin looked even redder than before, now that he had been grilled under the Zone 4 UV radiation for a couple hours.

“What in the hell…” Tommy was muttering as Frank came close to him.

“Hey asshole!” Frank told him in a cheery voice as he bent down in front of him. “Didn’t think I’d ever see you again—especially since you sold me and my friends out to SCARECROW.”

“Fun, listen—“ Tommy started.

“My name is Frank!” Frank hollered as he sent a fist crashing into Tommy’s face. He kept pounding away at the blonde traitor, repeating the wounds Gerard and I had given him earlier today.

“Frank! Come on, let’s go!” I yelled as I came close, pulling him off by the arm.

“Fuck you and your fucking face you fucktard!” Frank growled as he kept kicking Torque Tommy in the stomach.

“Okay, I think that’s enough!” I said as I pulled Frank away with me. I was surprised he still had that much vivacity in him after all he’d been through in the prison.

“You’re that same bitch who shot my hand…” Tommy muttered.

I turned around. “Would you like me to leave a matching hole in your other hand?” I asked him.

“Fuck you,” Tommy said as he spit up at my jeans.

Oh, hell no…

“Be glad you’re still alive, asshole,” I gritted as I was about to go over there and give him a piece of my fists. Usually, I don’t condone kicking someone when they’re down, but this scumbag deserves an exception.

“Alright, that’s enough!” Frank said as he started pulling me back before I could do anything.

“Hey!” I protested.

“You’re a lot more innocent than me, sweetie. I don’t want you getting corrupted now…“ Frank told me with a smile. "Besides, that fucker’s going to die from the heat if he doesn’t get any food or water all day,” he continued as he pulled me with him toward the dusty black Firebird, where everyone else was waiting.

“Will you two get in already?!” Mikey shouted at us from the driver seat.

BOOM!

My eyes widened as clouds of dust sprung from just inside the glass gates, along with shards of glass.

“Shit!” Frank gasped as he literally jumped into the backseat, stringing me along. Gerard shut the door as soon as we were in and Mikey sped off, creating a dust cloud of our own as the tires skidded across the dirt.

I wasn’t even sitting on a seat; my knees were bent at the floor of the car while my back rested against Frank’s legs. He wasn’t even sitting in one seat—he was sprawled back with his shoulder against Ray’s elbow.

“What the fu-what was that?!” I gasped.

“I had another surprise up our sleeve in case we were followed,” Frank replied casually.

“Oh, of course,” I answered sarcastically.

It was so hot and stuffy in the car that the air seemed to burn my skin without even being in the sun. It figures, being a black car and all. It was only slightly comforted by the hot wind coming through the open windows.

Mikey was driving fast along the highway. I peeked up and could see the speedometer at 94 mph. He was staring ahead with a serious look.

“Way to take over the backseat, Frank…” Ray scolded. He had already taken off his jacket, and looked just as sweaty as me.

“Here, I’ll move so you can sit,” Frank told me as he shifted so he was sitting up.

“I think I’m gonna stay down here. I just want to lay down,” I exhaled. My limbs all felt dead, I could feel the cuts and bruises again, and I just felt like dropping dead altogether.

“Quit being silly…” he said with a chuckle, and helped me sit up on the seat. I immediately pushed my knees forward and leaned back so I could lay back against the hot leather seat, slightly leaning against Frank so I didn’t get burned by the backrest.

He just laughed. “Or you could just do that…”

I closed my eyes for a minute. Even if it was hot as hell in this car, I could finally relax.

Everyone in the car was silent. I couldn’t blame them. They had just as much, if not more, reason to be exhausted like me. We just freakin’ broke out of a jail and then blew it up. What the hell is my life anymore?

I settled into the spot I was lying in, leaning more of my weight on Frank’s arm. I don’t think he minded. He was tired as hell, too, the poor guy covered in soot and smelling like he’d spent a week covered in sweat and dirt. The funny thing was that after all that happened, he still had his aviator sunglasses tucked into his shirt collar–all dusted over, of course, but they survived.

I looked around me, at Ray, whose face still looked like it hurt as he cradled the left side of it on the window; at Mikey, who looked tenser than ever with his damp hair standing up on its ends; and at Gerard, who looked like he had deflated on his seat and was wearing a messy, powdered wig. And then I thought about how I looked, with my tangles of damp hair, my ripped up shirt and all the stupid cuts and bruises I had. I started giggling.

“What’s so funny?” Frank asked as he rolled his head forward.

“We all look tore up,” I said with a laugh.

“You sure you’re feeling okay, Leya?” Ray turned to me with a smile.

I smiled back because I really was okay. I was better than okay. In fact, “I feel great,” I replied to Ray. And I wasn’t lying.

The sound of the motor rumbling and the whoosh of the world going by was the loveliest sound in the world. Even if the hot car smelled of cigarettes, sweat, and dirt, my clothes were uncomfortably damp, and I felt more exhausted than ever, I got my friends back and we were safe. I’m the happiest I’ve been in years.

“I feel really great,” I repeated with a wide grin.


	15. Chapter 15

It was quiet in the car as Mikey drove on under the hot desert sun. I wanted to do nothing more than sleep, but the thing about heat in a desert is that it makes it impossible for you to sleep. It’s like trying to sleep through getting baked alive.

_And I can’t believe I’ve been up since the break of dawn!_

Instead of sleeping, I just laid there on the backseat, growing accustomed to the overpowering stench of dirt and sweat from the guys. But they _have_ been in jail, so I forgive them for the smell.

Sunlight filtered into the car, despite the heavily tinted windows, so we were all strategically maneuvering ourselves out of the burning rays.

I looked over at Gerard. He was lying back against the black leather seat with his eyes closed.

He looked awful when he got out of the building, and he even needed help walking out. Right now, he looked pale in the face and he had a hand placed with a scarf over a section of his left forearm. I think he got hit with a laser. Not to mention all the black marks across his face, neck, and arms that were coupled with small cuts. Needless to say, I was worried about him.

I mustered up effort to sit up and get close to Gerard’s seat. “Thank you for listening to me, Gerard,” I softly told him.

He slowly opened his green-looking eyes and smiled weakly. “Thank _you_. Thanks to you, I have my brothers back. I can’t believe I almost stopped you from going.”

“It’s okay. After all, it did seem like a crazy idea at the time,” I said with a laugh.

Mikey looked over and remarked, “I knew you guys would come to get us out of there. They thought I was being too optimistic, but I had faith in you.” He had a small, closed-mouth smile on his lips.

“Owe it all to Leya. She was the one who wanted to go off in the desert alone to look for you guys once she realized it had been too long and you guys hadn’t come back to the checkpoint,” Gerard remarked.

“Yeah, but I couldn’t have done anything without you, Gerard,” I told him. He smiled at me.

It was quiet once more as the car rumbled across the highway.

“So…what happened?” I finally asked Mikey.

He exhaled a bit and started, “We got to Tommy’s the day after we left. It was late in the afternoon, we were tired as hell, and Tommy said he might have the part—“

“At which point, Mikey went all _yippee ki-yay_ on Tommy, practically threatening to shoot his balls off if he couldn’t find the part,” Frank added with a lazy chuckle.

“I did not!” Mikey answered with a bashful look on his face.

“You did too!” Frank replied. He turned to me and said, “You think he was crazy about it that day when he was arguing with you? Uh-uh…” Frank shook his head and giggled. “He fucking had his ray gun out, waving it at Tommy’s head—it was crazy!”

I laughed. “Is this true, Mikey?”

Mikey had one corner of his lips turned up and answered while looking ahead, “Well…yeah…”

Gerard was grinning widely at him. “That’s my brother!”

Ray was snickering, too, as he patted Mikey’s shoulder. “Tell ‘em what you said, Mikey!”

“What—I didn’t say anything…” Mikey answered.

Ray continued, “Yeah, you did! You told him something like… He’d better find the inertia switch before you decided to—“

“Those words should not be repeated around women or children!” Mikey frantically interrupted, whipping his head to give Ray a disapproving glare.

I breathed out a short laugh. “Thanks for protecting me, I guess.”

“You just—let’s just say that I said quite a few things that are only reserved for the direst of situations,” Mikey replied with the cutest embarrassed look on his face.

“He scared the shit out of Tommy,” Frank added with a laugh.

“Sounds just like Gerard. You guys really are a lot alike, aren’t you?” I remarked to Mikey and Gerard. They looked at each other and grinned.

“I actually think it was Mikey’s fault Tommy called SCARECROW on us,” Frank chided.

“Shut up, Frank!” Mikey sneered from the driver seat.

“I’m just kidding!” Frank laughed.

“So… what happened when SCARECROW got there?” I asked.

“Well,” Ray started, “we had been waiting at Tommy’s office for nearly an hour when Frank decided to steal one of Tommy’s cigarettes…” He gave Frank a reproving look, who shrugged as he looked down with a grin on his face. “So we went outside to wait with Frank, but found ourselves surrounded by BL/ind agents. There must have been thirty of them, at least. There was really nowhere to run, since Tommy had set up his door to be locked from the outside once it was closed and the BL/ind agents surrounded that little stretch of dirt. At first, they didn’t shoot. They were coming to arrest us and take us to prison, they said. But you know us…” Ray said with a shrug.

“So you guys fought?” Gerard questioned as he started rubbing off some of the ash from under his eye.

“We got about five agents until they started come at us with clubs–at which point, Ray got in front of me and Frank,” Mikey explained with a hard look. “He took the brunt of all the hits. We tried to fight back, but they fucking tasered us. And then the next thing I knew, I was waking up handcuffed in the backseat of a SCARECROW unit car.”

Frank added, “And then we got taken in, patted down, stripped of everything in our pockets that could be used as a weapon. No fingerprints or mugshots for us this time. And then we all got put in the same cell and we were there for… actually, I don’t even know how long it’s been…”

“Today, it’s been 7 days since you guys left,” I told Frank.

“Holy shit, that long?” Frank answered with wide eyes.

“Yup. And we waited until the 5th day to go after you guys,” I added.

“How was prison food?” Gerard asked with a cheeky smile.

“Don’t even joke… They gave us these pills—supplements. Which we didn’t take, of course!” Frank nearly shouted.

“So you guys haven’t eaten in five days?!” I exclaimed.

“I guess so…” Frank answered with a bemused look.

“Well, the funny thing is that they would replace the toilet water everyday…” Mikey started. Oh, God…

“And you know, toilet water is usually the cleanest kind of water…” he continued.

Frank giggled. “See, this is why I love having Mikey around! He always knows crazy shit like this…”

“…and so we drank from it,” Mikey finished with a smile on his face.

That sounds disgusting, but I couldn’t help but laugh at how proud he sounded.

“It was actually better than that stuff we gave you when we found you,” Ray directed toward me. That’s a bit comforting, I guess…

“Basically, Mikey saved us from dying of dehydration. And you know, I haven’t really been bothered by not eating…” Frank added.

“Only because you’re so used to it,” Gerard muttered with a frown. “Leya, where are those bags we took with us?”

“Oh! There should be one in the glove compartment. The rest are in the trunk,” I answered.

Gerard got up slowly and reached into the glove compartment, taking out one of the knapsacks we had packed with us on our trek. He reached into it and tossed a couple potato chip bags to Ray and Frank. He held out a beef jerky bag to Mikey, who took it with one hand while keeping his left hand on the steering wheel.

“So…what did they do to you—I mean, did they—“ I started.

“Did they torture us in prison?” Frank finished. “Nope,” he answered with a grin. “In fact, they didn’t do anything to us. They just came everyday to give us the supplements. We never got out of that cell until Gerard busted us out. But they did have a reason for that generous hospitality.”

“Well, what was it?” Gerard asked impatiently.

“It’s Korse,” Mikey told his brother with a solemn tone. “We were being held in the prison to wait until Korse came and dealt with us.”

“What does that even mean?” Gerard questioned. “The guy just tried to kill us last week!”

“It seems that we’re becoming too big of a problem for Korse, even if we’re not in Battery City. I’m pretty sure blowing up one of the BL/ind prisons doesn’t help…” Ray answered.

“But he doesn’t want us dead, or else we would have already been dead. So he wants something else…” Frank said as he looked down. Gerard looked over at him with hard eyes. All the guys were quiet for a moment.

“It’s about time we met up with Korse, then, isn’t it?” Gerard remarked. His fists were clenched tight.

“Hey—look on the bright side,” Ray started. “If he’s going after us, that means that Grace is probably not going to be harmed, especially if she’s not bait anymore—“

“Or that means that she’ll be killed because she’s of no use to them anymore. Damn it…” Gerard growled.

“There’s no use getting angry over it right now. We just narrowly escaped a BL/ind prison with our lives. I think we deserve a little breather,” Mikey benevolently told his brother.

Gerard looked over at him and lost his hardened look. “You’re right. I’m sorry, Mikey—I’m being completely insensitive. I mean, you were in fucking prison… Of course we can use a little breather.”

Gerard smiled at his brother, who was nibbling a piece of jerky in his mouth as he answered, “Don’t even worry about it, Gee. Just…relax.”

I took this moment to take off my wet leather jacket. It was terribly uncomfortable, having been drenched in ethanol, water and sweat. My arms could finally breathe again, and I was shocked to see the contrast in my exposed skin and the skin on my arms that was under the jacket. The exposed skin was visibly rosy still, the cuts on my arms slightly puffed up. The longer I looked at them, the itchier they became.

“I just can’t believe that after all of that, we still didn’t get the damn switch—whatever the fuck it’s called…” Frank muttered as he continued gazing downward.

“At least we have this car,” Ray cheerfully added as he playfully pushed Frank’s arm.

“But—we did get it,” I urgently told them. Frank looked over at me with one cocked eye. “No, really! We did! Gerard, show them the inertia switch!”

Gerard opened the glove compartment again and took out the inertia switch, in prime condition. “This is the one you were looking for, right?” he asked as he handed it to Ray.

Ray carefully took it in his hands, moving his curly hair out from his face and bringing the switch closer to his left eye vision.

“Yeah, man, this is it!” Ray said with the greatest smile I’d ever seen on his face. “How the hell did you guys get this?”

“Leya was clumsy and bumped into Tommy’s desk in his office—this thing dropped off—then we hassled Tommy a bit, and made sure to bring this with us before we left,” Gerard proudly explained.

Frank sighed as he closed his eyes. “Sweet Jesus, thank you!”

“So he really did go and get the part…” Mikey mused out loud.

Frank giggled. “Could you blame the guy? If I had been threatened like that, even I would have found a way to get it!”

“So you’re gonna be able to put that part together when we go back?” Mikey asked as he turned an eye to the back.

“Yeah, definitely,” Ray replied with a smile. “You want to help me with this, Leya?”

“Yeah!” I excitedly told Ray, nearly jumping from my seat. No one’s ever asked me to help them fix a car!

“Dude, I still think it’s weird that you know so much about cars…” Frank said as he narrowed his eyes at me.

“Why?” I asked.

“It’s just unnatural…” he continued while giving me a strange look.

“Oh, please… If you guys weren’t such amateurs with cars, it wouldn’t seem so unnatural,” I replied with a shake of my head.

“Whatever you say, freak,” Frank replied with a thumbs up.

It only took us 45 minutes to get back to the checkpoint, thanks to Mikey flouring it all the way there. But when we were finally stopped, I didn’t want to get out of the car. My legs felt dead, my arms, shoulders and back felt sore, and I couldn’t find the strength in me to get up.

“Get out! It’s hot as fuck in here!” Frank was urging me as he poked my side where my shirt was ripped.

“Go out the other way,” I told him with a wave of my hand. “I’ll leave when I can feel my legs again…”

“Does Leya need me to carry her again?” Gerard teased with his little creepy teeth showing from his wide smile. He had just gotten out of the car looking much more lively as he was holding the door open for me.

I narrowed my eyes at him and grabbed the side of the car door, carrying all my weight with my upper body strength. I gritted my teeth and took one step out of the car onto the dirt. Then the other…

Before I could take another step, Frank had pushed me forward in his rush to get out of the car. He was pushing back his dark hair as he exhaled, “Shit, I never want to go in a car that hot again…”

I was supporting myself over the open door, trying to ignore the bleeding blisters on my feet. Oh sure, as soon as I wasn’t being chased to death, then I feel all the pain…

“By the way, you look fucking terrible,” I could faintly hear Mikey mutter.

“Oh, thanks for the compliment, Mikey…” Gerard grumbled in response. “Help me get these bags out.” I looked back to see them opening the trunk.

“First aid kit?” Ray questioned as he looked into one of the small bags. He had his black jacket slung over one of his shoulders.

“Yeah, we packed it in case you guys needed it,” Gerard answered. “Use it to get that face of yours fixed, Toro.”

Ray softly chuckled. “Hey, you’re the one that looks like you fell into a chimney!”

“You both look like shit. Now let’s get inside and get cleaned up,” Frank said as he clapped each of his hands on Gerard and Ray’s shoulders. They started walking toward the shop.

I looked down, exhaling as I was hanging over the door. The afternoon sun was still high and it was still really hot, but there was no wind today. For once, I wish there was, because now I was burning in my own sweat. The walk to the store seemed miles away—especially if every step was going to feel like I was stabbing my feet..

I heard dirt crunching near me, and turned to see Mikey, who had a frown on his face. He had taken off his jacket, but his hair was still messy and damp, as well as the shirt he was wearing.

“Do you seriously need someone to carry you?” he asked me. He didn’t sound happy about it.

“Don’t worry, I’ll get in there before the sun goes down,” I answered with a chuckle.

“What the hell am I going to do with you?” he groaned just before he kneeled down, hooked an arm under my knees and the other arm around my back, literally sweeping me off my feet. He kicked the car door closed and started walking.

“Hey! Mikey!” I protested as I clung to his shoulders to keep from slipping. I didn’t like being man-handled so often!

Then again, I was pleasantly surprised he was able to carry me like this. I felt kind of like a princess—shut up, brain!

“How long have you had those blisters on your feet?” he asked me.

“What blisters?” I dumbly asked.

Mikey bent an eyebrow at me.

“Okay, sorry, just trying to lighten up the mood here a bit,” I muttered as he brought me into the store.

_Shade, glorious shade…_

Mikey put me down on the same counter where he stitched Frank’s face a week ago. He was about to take off my shoes before I put a hand on his, stopping him.

“Wait!” I exclaimed. “Take care of Ray first. I’ll be fine. But I’m really worried about him…”

Mikey’s intense stare dropped and he turned around looking for Ray. Frank and Gerard were rushing over somewhere—I think I heard Frank say something about Gerard needing to get washed up. No kidding, they could both use a wash… Mikey had Ray follow him, rummaging through the first aid supplies for the right chemicals to treat his swollen eye.

Because I had nothing else better to do, I decided to take off my worn out shoes and socks. After having been soaked in that burning ethanol and running around for practically 2 days in a row nonstop, my feet finally felt like they could breathe. But the sight was horrifying—my feet were bright pink and there were about ten or so big cuts all around each foot, oozing blood and pus, and they were just hideous!  

I made a grimace and wondered what I should do. Walking would hurt, but I know if Mikey saw the damage, he wouldn’t shut up about it. I need to soak my feet in hot water—that’s what my mother used to tell me when I was a child—but where would I find a bucket and where would I find hot water?

I slipped my socks back on and hopped off the counter, holding back a wince as my feet touched the cold floor. At least my feet hurt less when I wasn’t wearing those worn out Chucks. I looked back to make sure Mikey was still working on Ray.

“Do what you have to, Mikey,” Ray said as Mikey held a cotton ball in his hand.

“It’s just… it’s infected, and I won’t be able to do anything about the swelling unless I find ice or an anti-inflammatory drug. The most I can do is try and clean this up without damaging your eyes…” Mikey explained with a concerned tone.

I kept walking over to where the aisle with the fishing gear was, feet feeling sore the whole time. There were buckets there that I could use for my feet. I pulled out a couple blue 8 quart buckets, tearing at the plastic wrapping on them. I started walking toward the bathroom. Even if I won’t be able to get salt water here, regular water would do the trick…

Once I got to the rusty old door, I pushed it open, creating that loud creak again. I was found Gerard and Frank standing over the sink with the water running.

“Oh, hey Leya!” Frank replied with a grin. He had a soap bar held between his hands in front of him, although he was just as dirty as when I last saw him. I still hadn’t got used to seeing his scar, which bent at the corner of his mouth while he smiled.

Gerard was behind him, shirtless with his hair and torso dripping in water. He had soapy foam on his neck and shoulders still. “Hey…” he quietly said as he looked to the side.

“Maybe I’ll just come back later…” I said as I started turning around.

“No-uh… Do you need to use the bathroom, or—what are those buckets for?” Frank asked with a laugh.

“Uh…” I put a hand to my tangled bangs, trying to think of something that didn’t sound stupid. But what the hell, might as well be honest at this point. “I was going to get water to soak my feet in.”

I was standing there smiling with a stupid, embarrassed look on my face. Gerard looked scared of me and Frank looked like he was trying to hold in a laugh.

I quickly tried to explain, “I…I have these blisters all over my feet, and I just—“

“Say no more!” Frank put up a hand and grinned. “But hey—we could use one of those buckets for washing up—you know, like for rinsing!”

“Yeah, of course,” I said as I started getting one of the buckets out, handing it to Frank, who had his left hand stretched out as he held the soap bar in his right hand. As he grabbed the bucket, his left elbow bent back and retreated. The bucket clattered to the dirty, wet floor, and I bent right away to pick it up.

“Sorry about that,” Frank quickly apologized as he also bent down to the floor to help me. He held his left arm close to his side. “It must have slipped from my hands,” he said with a laugh.

“Or something’s wrong with your elbow…” I said with a skeptical look on my brow. I picked up the bucket myself and frowned at Frank. I remember back in the prison, his elbow pulled back the same way when we were in the middle of a firefight.

“Did something happen at the prison?” Gerard asked as he turned to Frank, losing the awkward expression on his face as he pushed back the wet strands from his face to get a better look.

“Does it hurt?” I asked as I got closer to Frank, starting to pull up his left sleeve.

“It’s fine, Leya,” Frank said as he backed away from me, giving me an annoyed look with his eyes.

I raised an eyebrow. “Oh, really?”

“Yeah, really,” Frank replied with a raise of his eyebrows as well.

“So it won’t hurt if I do this…” I said as I quickly took his left hand and pulled it toward me, so his arm extended out straight.

“Fuck—What did you do that for?!” Frank shouted as he sharply brought his arm back, cradling it against his ribs.

“Because you’re lying about being hurt!” I lashed back.

“Frank, you could have told us if something was hurting you,” Gerard started as he crossed his arms over his pale chest.

Frank shot narrowed eyes at Gerard quickly before turning back to me. “It’s nothing. I’m fine.”

“Seriously? Could you not be the tough guy for once?” I groaned.

Frank just rolled his eyes at me as he sighed with an open mouth.

“Don’t roll your eyes at me!” I almost shouted. “You’re hurt and you need to get that checked out.” I went up to him again and picked up his left elbow. This time, he didn’t move away from me. Meanwhile, Gerard finished rinsing himself and put on his navy blue t-shirt.

It was hard to see past the red rays, guns, stars, and black rose around Frank’s elbow. “You have too many damn tattoos,” I complained as I was trying to see if there was any redness around it in the pale fluorescent light. I pushed his yellow sleeve up even higher and started pressing into his tricep. I looked up to see Frank wincing and stopped. That muscle is not supposed to be that soft…

“From the look of it, it’s probably just a pulled muscle, but it’s hurting you and it’s affecting simple things like grabbing a bucket. What’s going to happen when you get into another firefight?” I asked Frank.

“Wow, you sound just like Mikey,” Gerard remarked as he leaned against the porcelain sink with a smirk.

“I still have another arm,” Frank replied as he pulled his sleeve back down. “Besides, this is my left. I’ll be fine.”

“You know, Frank, you’ve helped me a bunch of times in the short time period that I’ve known you. Just let me help you for once.” I stood staring at Frank, who had his eyes averted from me for the longest time.

“Frank…” Gerard added with a reproving look at him.

“Okay,” Frank sighed out.

“Okay—what do you mean okay?” I asked as I crossed my arms.

“I mean…okay—Yeah, I pulled a muscle or whatever. It hurts like a fucking bitch to do some things right now. I’ll get it fixed as soon as I can,” he replied with a forced smile during that last sentence.

I relaxed. At least he finally admitted it hurt.

“Damn, you’re such a hardass,” Frank muttered with a shake of his head. But he was slightly grinning, so this was good, right?

I shrugged my shoulders. “I’m not trying to be…”

“It’s a good thing you are,” Gerard told me as he started shaking the water from his bright red hair. “It keeps idiots like us from doing something stupid.” Gerard looked at Frank with a smirk as he said the last bit.

“You still need to fill up that bucket?” Frank asked me with a bright look in his eyes.

“Yeah,” I answered. I stuck the bucket underneath the faucet streaming water as warm as possible.

Gerard was about to leave the bathroom before I asked, “Can I ask you guys a question?”

“Sure,” Frank replied.

“Shoot,” Gerard told me as he leaned against the door.

“Just out of curiosity…is there a reason you two like to wash up together?” I asked.

Frank and Gerard looked at each other before looking back at me.

“Frank’s kind of a…shower freak…” Gerard started with a crooked grin.

“Shower freak?” I repeated in confusion.

“Yeah, ever since I’ve known him, the guy’s been kind of obsessed with being clean, not getting any germs, that kind of thing…” Gerard continued.

“And Gerard’s the kind of guy that doesn’t really care too much about showering, about how many days he goes wearing the same thing over and over…” Frank added.

“Basically, Frank makes sure I get clean enough to his standards,” Gerard mentioned with a shake of his head.

“If I didn’t, this guy would be taking one-minute showers every other month!” Frank defended as he put his hands out.

I giggled. “Okay, I believe you. It was just a little weird to see you two in here together, that’s all…”

“So when are you going to stop hiding from Mikey?” Gerard asked me with a smug look in his eyes.

“Who says I’m hiding from him?” I answered.

“You’re stalling…” Frank said with a smirk as he shrugged off his green vest, hanging it on the wall of the bathroom stall.

I turned off the faucet and took the bucket I had with me in hand. “I have no idea what you’re talking about. Are you sure you’ll be able to wash up without hurting your arm?”

“Yeah, I think so, Leya…” Frank answered with a laugh.

“I’m just saying, if you need anything, I’ll be here,” I replied.

Frank giggled. “I could always ask Gerard to help me. He doesn’t mind.”

“Yeah, go and soak your poor, blistered feet,” Gerard told me with a grin as he opened the door. “And say hi to Mikey for me when he’s done scolding you.”

I blinked my eyes at Gerard. “You’re really annoying sometimes, you know that?”

Frank and Gerard just started laughing.

“Oh, laugh all you want! Just wait until I tell him about your poor little elbow,” I directed to Frank with a raise of my eyebrows just before walking out past Gerard. They stopped laughing.

I made sure to make my way to the entrance as noiselessly as possible, while I had to pass Mikey and Ray, who were sitting in small chairs near the cashier counter.

“Does that sting?” Mikey was asking Ray as he was dabbing a cotton ball to his eyelid.

“Nah, you’re good. Dude, this is weird. I can’t even open this eye still…” Ray answered.

“You’ll be fine, Ray. Just give it a couple days,” Mikey replied in a comforting tone as he threw the cotton ball aside.

I tip-toed across the doorway, setting the blue fishing bucket down at the foot of one of the wooden chairs out on the porch. There was no shade out here right now, but I wouldn’t be out here long. Since there is no real way to boil water in the shop, I decided that I could probably get this water hot just by leaving it outside in the sun. It was probably 110° right now. And anyway, soaking my feet in any temperature of water would be soothing right now.

I sat down on the chair—which burned the back of my thighs—took off my socks, and gently placed my feet into the bucket, rolling my jeans up a bit. My feet were small enough to fit in that bucket comfortably. I took a hair band from my wrist and fastened my dark, tangled hair into a ponytail. Then I rested back on the seat, letting my feet heal.

I can’t remember the last time I felt so relaxed while being awake. I put a palm up above my eyes for shade, looking toward the Trans-Am that was waiting to be fixed. There are still a few hours of sunlight left, which should leave us plenty of time to replace the inertia switch.

In just a few minutes, I heard footsteps walking over the wooden planks of the porch.

“What are you doing out here?” Ray asked with his hands on his hips. He was smiling at me.

“Sitting,” I answered him with a smirk.

He laughed while he took the seat next to me.

“How’s your eye?” I asked. He had a square of gauze taped over it.

He gently put a hand to it, and told me, “Well, I won’t be able to see until the swelling goes down, according to Mikey. But it doesn’t hurt.”

“Good,” I answered with a nod.

“You know, he’s looking for you,” Ray told me with a kind look from his left brown eye.

I made a short laugh. “As expected.”

Ray also laughed. “You drive him crazy, you know that?”

“It’s not my fault he worries so much,” I said with a shrug.

“Yeah, but with the amount of trouble we run into, I can’t blame him. Since we couldn’t stop Korse from taking Grace, I think that’s what especially makes him want to make sure nothing happens to _you_. That goes for all of us.” Ray put a hand on my shoulder and smiled.

I smiled back at Ray. “I appreciate it, I really do. But I think you all forget that I’m 19. I’m not a little girl that can’t take care of herself.”

“No, you definitely aren’t,” Ray replied as he looked down. “But do Mikey a favor and act at least a little bit concerned about getting hurt.”

I laughed. “And miss out on driving him crazy? No way!”

Ray laughed in return. “Hey, how about we get started on bringing the Trans-Am back to life?”

My face lit up. “Yeah, let’s get started right now! I’ll just go inside and get my shoes!” I took my feet out from the bucket and stamped them on the wooden planks to get rid of the dripping water.

“How are your feet?” Ray asked as he also stood up, looking down at my blistered feet.

“They’re feeling a bit better now. Hot water would have been preferable. But this was nice,” I answered as I started walking inside the shop.

“There you are!” I heard Mikey say before I got even two steps inside. He looked a bit frazzled as he was walking toward me with Gerard next to him.

“Just picking up my shoes real quick,” I said as I tried to walk around him to the counter.

“You’re walking around?!” he asked, whipping around to follow me.

I smiled. “Yeah. I soaked my feet for a bit. I feel refreshed. Me and Ray are gonna go fix the car now,” I said as I took a shoe from the counter, slipping it onto my left foot.

Mikey was running a hand through his hair as he sighed. “Soaking your feet doesn’t get rid of blisters…”

I slipped on the other shoe before turning back to walk out again, patting a hand on his left shoulder. “I feel fine. Honestly.”

Mikey gripped my wrist with his right hand, keeping me from moving forward anymore.

“Ow!” I complained.

“Look at your hands! You think I’m going to let you work on a dirty car with your bare hands all cut up like this?” he exclaimed.

I tried to pull away, but couldn’t. “I’ll wear gloves…” I gritted through my teeth.

“The cuts on your hands could still get infected,” Gerard added. He was leaning against the counter as he winked at me. Oh, he was enjoying this…

“Right! Thank you,” Mikey said as he turned to his older brother.

“Okay. Give me a few band-aids and I’ll be as good as new,” I said, trying to pull away again. This only hurt my wrist more. Mikey wouldn’t fucking let go…

“Your hands look like you ran them through a cheese grater a couple times. I think you’re going to need more than a few band-aids,” he said with a snort.

“Fine! Do what you must!” I surrendered.

Gerard was cackling over on the counter. “You know, you’re acting just like Frank.”

“The only difference is that his injuries are serious and mine are _nothing to fret over,”_ I said with a glare as Mikey started getting the first aid kit out.

“What about Frank?” Mikey asked as he started applying ointment to the multitude of cuts on my hands. It wasn’t that bad. I mean, they weren’t bleeding anymore…the skin was just peeled off most of the cuts.

“He pulled a muscle above his elbow. I think it’s his tricep. Anyway, he was denying anything was wrong or that it hurt for forever,” I answered as Mikey took my left hand to start wrapping gauze around it in a figure-eight pattern between my palm and my fingers.

He snorted. “Sounds just like you…”

“I am not nearly as stubborn as him!” I said with a shake of my head.

“Who’s stubborn?” I heard Frank say from behind. I looked back to see him walking up to the counter. His black hair was dripping wet over his face as he shook his head side to side.

“You,” I said with an arch of my eyebrow.

He breathed out a laugh. “If anyone here is stubborn, it’s you!”

“Me?” I asked.

“Yeah! You don’t listen to anyone. You just do what you want to, no matter how insane it is. It’s actually a bit impressive,” Frank told me as he put a hand under his chin.

“That is not true! I listen to Mikey…” I argued.

Mikey laughed, looking up from bandaging my hand. “Yeah, after I practically force you to…”

“Well, I’ve never argued with Ray,” I said with a bright look, hoping that was true.

“Yeah, she hasn’t,” Ray said with a smile. He was standing just a few feet behind Mikey with his hands in his pockets.

“See,” I said with a gesture of my bandaged hand. Mikey was working on the right hand now.

“You’re still stubborn,” Frank told me with a raise of his eyebrows.

“And so are you,” I said back. “Check on his arm after you’re done with me, Mikey.”

“What the hell—you told him about it?” Frank asked me.

“I told you I would…” I answered as Mikey finished taping the bandage on my right hand. I stood up immediately, trying to avoid the death glare that was coming from Frank.

 “Well, me and Ray got a car to fix!“ I cheerfully announced as I started skipping away, dragging Ray by the arm with me before anyone could follow.


	16. Chapter 16

“So how is it you know so much about cars again?” Ray asked as he stuck the inertia switch into its proper place. We got to work on the car immediately, hoping to finish before the sun started to set. We were lying on the dirt under the car, which was shielding us from the heat.

“My dad used to work on them,” I answered.

“I know, but… You figured out what was wrong with the car before any of us,” Ray answered with a chuckle as he looked over at me.

I shrugged, “Well… when I was a kid, like 7 or 8, my mom had started up work and my sister was at camp, so she didn’t want me to be home alone. So she would drop me off at my dad’s work—which at the time was helping run his brother’s mechanic shop. So that summer, I got to see a lot of cars, a lot of problems with them, and I was really good at asking questions.” I laughed. “My dad used to tell me all kinds of things that made cars stop working and it all stuck with me after.”

“Did he let you work with him, too?” Ray asked as he started tightening one of the bolts.

“No… Never!” I snorted. “He said that I should never be allowed to touch an engine. That it was not a woman’s place.”

“Well, that’s not very nice of him!” Ray exclaimed.

I giggled. “Well, I was only a kid. I probably would have ended up sabotaging his work. Besides, he was happy enough to explain everything to me when he was working.”

“You were close with your dad then, huh?” Ray asked as his lips curved into a smile.

I looked down shortly. “…Yeah. You could say that…”

I mostly helped hand Ray the tools and navigate between the small workspace, since he could only see from one eye. But he let me screw the last bolts in place before we got out from under the car and removed the jack.

“Okay, let’s check if this baby works!” Ray excitedly told me as he turned over and gave me a high five. I stood up from the dirt, getting into the passenger side of the car as Ray got into the driver seat.

“Moment of truth…” he said just before he turned the key in the ignition. After several churnings of the engine, a deep rumble came out of it.

“Ahh!” I exclaimed. The car worked!

“Oh my god, it works!” Ray gushed out. He let the engine run as he reached over and gave me a hug. I buried my head in his curls as I hugged him back.

“We did it!” I excitedly cheered, putting my hand up for another high-five.

Ray high-fived me and turned forward. “How about we test it—to make sure—just in case!” He turned back to me for my opinion.

“Yes!” I said. Of course I wouldn’t say no to that!

“Okay, put your seatbelt on!” Ray told me just as he shifted the car to drive. Then he sped off from the gas pumps and started flouring it out on the highway.

I let my arm go outside the window as we sped along the black road, feeling the wind rushing past. Ray had the hugest smile on his face as we kept driving, turning the fuzzy radio on.

“Thank you!” Ray told the car as he rubbed a hand over the dashboard.

I giggled at this but let out a whoop as I put my hands up triumphantly in the air.

I hadn’t seen this part of the Trans-Am too closely before, and just now noticed the silly-looking blue mouse head dangling from the rear-view mirror. And then just beyond it, something caught my eye.

It was an 8x10 portrait taped to the center of the dashboard. I sat forward to see better, and I saw a picture of a little girl with a curly, cinnamon afro of hair. She looked so small, with these bright green eyes and a colorful vest-long sleeve combination.

This was the little girl these guys were repeatedly risking their lives to get back.

This was Grace.

“I can’t wait to tell the guys!” Ray yelled over the radio and the sound of the desert going by.

“Yeah,” I replied, returning the jubilant smile to my face.

Although, after seeing that photo of Grace, I couldn’t find it in me to feel happy in my heart.

Not when she was still missing.

Now I understood why they were doing all that they did.

Why Gerard kept freaking out…

Why Mikey wanted to get to Torque Tommy’s so bad…

Why they were all working so hard to protect me…

We got back to the checkpoint shortly, welcomed by Frank, Mikey, and Gerard cheering as we parked in front of the shop. The sun was just starting to go down.

“Fuck yes!” Frank cheered with a huge smile on his face as he came over to hug Ray as he got out of the car.

“I can’t believe you guys did it! I mean, I had faith in you but—I can’t believe you guys did it!” Gerard praised as his eyes shone and his cheeks grew rosy from smiling so big. I hadn’t seen him look this happy since I met him.

I was walking around the front of the car as Mikey ran up saying, “I knew you could do it!” He had both hands up in the air ready for a double high-five. I sheepishly smiled and gave him a double high-five.

“You’re a genius,” Mikey added with a grin.

“It was nothing! This stuff happens to cars all the time,” I replied.

“No, it was definitely not nothing. You saved us!” Frank said as he rushed up and gave me a back-crushing hug.

“I don’t know how we could ever repay you, Leya,” Gerard told me as he came up and gave me a hug from the side.

“Seriously, we would have been in the shitter without you,” Ray said as he came and swung an arm around my shoulder, too. I was completely smothered now.

“Guys…it was nothing! The least I could do in return for all you guys have done for me,” I struggled to say from within the huddle.

Gerard laughed. “I think she needs air, guys…” They all promptly let go of me and I could breathe again.

“Once again, thank you,” Gerard told me. They were all looking at me with these strange looks of admiration. I didn’t know how to react to this, so I just blushed and looked down.

“So what do we do with the Firebird?” Frank asked. “We can’t just dump a car like that…”

“Leya can take it,” Gerard announced.

My eyes widened. “What? I can’t even drive stick-shift!”

I can’t even remember the last time I drove a car…

“Have Mikey teach you,” Gerard said with a shrug.

“I don’t think that’s something I could learn in one day. And…you guys trust me with the Firebird?” I replied.

“Who cares if we trust you? It’s yours,” Frank told me with a grin.

I smiled uneasily. They were giving me a freaking car… a freaking Firebird!

“You earned it, grease monkey!” Ray told me with a clap on my shoulder.

I laughed at this. “You guys are insane, you know that?”

They all laughed.

“Oh, we know…” Gerard told me with a sideways smirk.

“So… does this mean since the car’s fixed, we’re set to go?” Mikey cautiously addressed his older brother.

Gerard looked down in contemplation. “I guess so…”

“Well, we’re not going to leave _now_ , are we?” Frank asked with an unconscious wave of his hands.

“We’re not?” Gerard asked with a surprised tilt of his eyebrows.

“Well, look at you all!” Frank answered. “You’re not in any condition to fight in case we meet up with Korse and his goons.”

“And you are?” Ray asked with a droll look in his eye as he crossed his arms.

“I won’t be taking any criticism from the disabled,” Frank cheekily replied as he turned away from his curly-headed friend.

“I think we should stay here another night,” Mikey said as he looked down, nodding his head. “We could use the rest. And that way, we could get a fresh start in the morning.”

“Is that alright, Leya?” Gerard asked me with a sympathetic look.

“Yeah, that’s fine! You guys should take all the rest that you need,” I answered with what I hoped was an encouraging smile.

I was in no rush to leave. And that fact alone was killing me on the inside.

“It’s settled then,” Frank remarked with a smile. “Who’s up for another epic battle with the pillow fight master?”

“Whatever, I pounded you into the ground last time!” Ray answered.

“I let you win…” Frank replied with a nonchalant tone.

“I don’t think it’s the healthiest thing for you to be hurtling pillows when you pulled a muscle in your tricep,” Mikey muttered to Frank with a look of disapproval.

“Oh, who are you–my mom?” Frank retorted with a narrowing of his eyes.

“Well, _someone_ has to be…” Mikey answered. He creased his brow in perplexity. “That sounded kind of weird, but you know what I mean!”

Frank giggled. “I know what you mean… And I thought that was Ray’s job, anyway…”

Ray was staring down Frank as Gerard cut in, “Alright, alright. Let’s just get inside before a drone catches us out here. With our activities today, we’re at even more of a risk of being pursued.”

Once we got back into the shop, everyone who was still dirty got washed up, we bandaged up anything else that needed to be bandaged up, ate, and took time to finally sit down and catch our breath.

There were no sleepover festivities this time—just sleep. The guys were all feeling tired enough to sleep at around 7:30 and to be honest, I felt spent enough to sleep for five days straight.

 

_“Make sure they don’t rise up again—”_

 

I woke up with my heart beating fast and my breath coming out in short huffs. I threw off my jacket, sat up and wiped the cold sweat off of my brow, trying to calm down.

How much longer were these damn nightmares going to haunt me?

I kept my head rested in my hands while I focused on slowing my breathing.

Just relax… It was just a nightmare…

I looked around me, wondering if I woke anyone up. There was Gerard, there was Frank, and there was Ray, all sound asleep in the small attic space.

But Mikey wasn’t here. His jacket was left in the space he was sleeping. I looked over to the small attic door to see that it was left open.

Well…maybe he just went to the bathroom.

I looked over at that stereo to see the time. “2:17” was lit up in green.

I laid back down, curling my knees in and closing my eyes, trying to get back to sleep.

But it didn’t work.

I looked to the stereo again to see it was 2:32 now. I stretched my arms out, breathing in deeply. I expect there’s nothing to do now but wait until I can fall asleep.

Ray was snoring and I could hear the others breathing, so I’m sure they weren’t having any trouble sleeping. I looked back toward them and noticed that Mikey was still gone.

He couldn’t have possibly…

I stood up, making as little noise as I could, tip-toeing over to the attic door. I didn’t even bother putting on my shoes. I walked down the ladder, onto the linoleum, and I could see that the door to the shop was left open.

That’s weird. Did Mikey leave?

When I got to the entrance, I slowly walked over the threshold, feeling no wind as I walked out into the open air. The weather was so nice. It must have been about 65° out with no breath of wind at all.

I spotted Mikey sitting at the edge of the dusty, wooden porch of the shop. He had his head turned up toward the sky.

“Hey, Kobra Kid,” I announced as I quietly walked toward Mikey. I sat down next to him on the edge of the wooden porch as he looked up quickly.

“What are you doing here?” he asked.

“I couldn’t sleep,” I answered with a shrug. He smiled and then looked back at the sky. He wasn’t wearing his jacket, his toned arms shining like white marble in the moonlight as he had them bent, resting his hands on the wooden panels.

“Isn’t this crazy?” he asked me as he nodded up. I looked up at the half-moon, shining so bright, it almost hurt my eyes.

“Yeah,” I softly replied. “It’s beautiful.”

Mikey and I stayed silent for another minute, just looking up at the moon and the stars in the sky. It wasn’t often that the atmosphere cleared up enough for us to see this many. So this was pretty amazing.

“So when are you going to tell me what _you’re_ doing here at this hour?” I finally asked, not looking at Mikey yet.

He took a short breath before answering, “I couldn’t sleep.”

I put a hand to my chin, turning toward the taciturn blond. He looked calm, but as I looked into his shining dark eyes, I could tell something else was going on.

He looked toward me with an apprehensive expression, then sighed, curving his lips back into a smile. “Do you ever think about, you know, if things hadn’t changed—Like if Better Living Industries never happened?” he asked me.

“Yeah,” I answered. “All the time.”

“I do, too,” he said with a wistful look back up at the sky.

I was quiet for a few seconds before I asked, “What do you think your life would be like now if Better Living Industries never happened?”

Mikey focused his eyes downward and answered, “Honestly, I don’t know. But I know I would still be doing something with Gerard. And probably Ray and Frank. Did you know we used to be in a band together?” He was smiling widely now.

“Yeah,” I returned with a smile. “Frank told me.”

“You know, every once in a while, I think about what life would have been like, but then I remind myself that I would probably still be with the same group of guys I’m with now, and then everything is fine again. But…” His smile dropped.

“What?” I cautiously asked. Mikey’s eyes looked sad now.

“It’s just… When does all this end? Even if we get Korse, if we get Grace back, if we get reunited with our families, the world will still be fucked up. It feels like we’re always running, but never reaching a destination. And I guess maybe it’s not so much about reaching a destination, but I don’t even know what I’m running toward anymore.”

Mikey gave me a look that contained more vulnerability than I could imagine him having. It broke my heart.

“As long as we keep running, as long as we keep living, the world can be beautiful,” I softly told Mikey. “Maybe that’s why we have to keep going. Because without people like us, the world is nothing. Maybe it’s not supposed to end, because if you think about it, the world’s been fucked up since before Better Living Industries showed up—maybe it just wasn’t as apparent to us—and it’s always been people like us, people that rebel, people that are artists, storytellers, musicians—hell, people with just plain crazy ideas—we’re the ones that bring color to this world. And you know, maybe we’re not going to get rid of the darkness in the world in one day, in one fight, or after years of fighting. That’s why it feels like we’re running in circles, because the world always needs us to keep running and fighting.”

It was quiet for a while after I finished.

“Damn,” was all Mikey finally remarked with.

“Yeah, I don’t know what got into me,” I said with a laugh.

“No, you make perfect sense!” Mikey told me with a smile.

“I do?” I asked, surprised.

“Yeah, you do. It’s nice to know that this generation of teenagers isn’t completely hopeless,” he replied with a smile as he looked toward me. “Thank you. I feel better now.”

I couldn’t help the smile forming at the corner of my lip. “Anytime,” I answered. “But I have to admit, it was partially inspired by Gerard. He told me something similar a few days ago.”

Mikey nodded and quietly laughed. “Yeah, it sounds like something he’d say.”

We were quiet again for another minute. I don’t think I’d ever been around someone I could feel so comfortable sharing a silence with. I was definitely going to miss this.

I brought my knees up and hugged them together, looking up at that little half circle of a moon again. When I looked up at it like this, it felt like I was just a kid again, sitting up in my backyard at night.

The silence was broken as Mikey shifted, so his arms were crossed across his ribs. He started to stretch his neck, cracking it one way, then the next.

I shifted my eyes toward him, smiling.

“What is it?” he asked with a fraction of a grin.

“I was just wondering what it would have been like if Better Living Industries hadn’t happened…and if we met, would we be the same?” I told him.

“Oh, I’d definitely be the same,” he answered.

“Really?” I asked.

“Yeah. The only difference between then and now is that I know kung-fu,” he said with a smile.

“You probably looked exactly the same, too,” I joked.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” he asked as his voice got higher.

“It means that you look no older than 25, yet apparently you’re over 30,” I said with a raise of my eyebrows.

“Hey, you’re the one that looks like you’re still 15! How old are you really again, 42?” Mikey asked with a toothy grin.

“Ha-ha,” I told him with a light push on his elbow. After a moment of reflection, I added, “Sometimes I still feel like I’m 15.”

I looked down as I went back to fifteen years old, back to when things were still normal, when my family was all together and happy, when the world wasn’t as fucked up as it is now. I put my hands together, cracking my knuckles.

“That would make it 2015,” Mikey remarked. “That was right before—“

“Right before L.A. became a prison-state,” I finished. “You know, things were really good for me that year. I was finally starting to get straight A’s, I had a group of about 4 or 5 close friends, and the only thing I ever worried about was getting homework done on time and what my hair looked like.”

“I never got straight A’s in high school,” Mikey said with a sigh.

“But you’re so smart!” I said in perplexity.

Mikey giggled. “Yeah, well… high school was a lot different for me. I was a lot different.”

“So you didn’t get straight A’s… I can’t imagine you ever had problems getting a date, though,” I told him with a roll of my eyes.

“Why do you say that?” he asked as he creased his eyebrows.

“Do you really need me to tell you or should I just give you a mirror?” I told him.

He looked down and smiled bashfully. “Oh…” he breathed out. “Believe it or not, I was not that easy on the eyes in high school,” he finally told me with widened eyes.

I bent an eyebrow. Was he serious?

“No, really!” he protested. “I was about a hundred pounds heavier, I had these glasses that I was blind without, I had this horrible haircut,” he said while waving his hands around to physically paint a picture for me. “And I didn’t get a date until well through my high school career.”

I put a hand on my cheek. I tried to imagine this. But I still saw the same sweet eyes in this image of a young, awkward Mikey. “What were you like when you were fifteen?” I asked him.

“Well, if that description didn’t give you an idea, I was a bit of an outcast—I didn’t fit in with that many people, I hated school, I spent all my free time listening to music, reading comics, or hanging out with Gerard in our basement. Not exactly someone you would notice,” he said with a pessimistic laugh.

“I would notice you,” I told Mikey.

He smiled. “Thanks for saying that, but I doubt it.”

“Why?” I asked. That kind of hurt me to hear him say that.

“Girls like you would never notice a guy like me. Ha, girls, period. I bet guys were lining up to go out with you, though,” Mikey told me with a grand motion of his arm.

I laughed loudly. “Are you kidding me? It was more like I had a disease! Guys in Battery City would never go out with a weirdo like me.” I paused. “Actually, I was a lot like you—just replace the comics with novels and Gerard with my sister Krys—I spent all my free time listening to music and reading—before novels and music were banned, anyway—and I couldn’t get a date all throughout my high school career.”

“No kidding,” Mikey remarked.

“Nope,” I replied. “Anyway, looks are completely overrated! Out of all the things I like about you, it’s your personality I like best. So I think if 15 year old me met 15 year old you, they would have been really good friends.”

“I would have liked to see that,” he answered with a brief smile before we went into another minute of silence.

“Wait. You really never got a date throughout your high school career?” Mikey suddenly asked me, with a crease in his eyebrow as if that was so hard to believe.

I nervously laughed. “Never.”

“Wow…” he remarked.

“Yeah, I get that reaction all the time,” I answered.

Mikey was quiet for a while. But he finally said, “That’s terrible.”

“Oh, thank you for rubbing it in!” I sarcastically replied with a grin.

“No! That’s not what I meant…” Mikey’s eyes were big in his defense. I laughed at this.

“What I meant to say is…” he started again, “That’s terrible that none of the guys in your high school could see what a great girl they were missing out on.”

Shit. Heart. I can’t tell if it’s stopped or if I’ve just forgotten how to breathe.

Mikey looked down as he added with a shake of his head, “They must have been idiots. Or blind. Or deaf. Or stupid!”

“You already said that—well, you said idiots first, but basically its the same thing as stupid,” I quietly remarked, once I could breathe again.

Mikey made a soft giggle. “You’re funny. If there were more girls like you at my high school, I probably wouldn’t have hated it as much.”

He must be tired. Exhausted. Delirious. Why else would he be saying these strange things?!

“Are you okay?” I asked.

Mikey answered with a laugh, “I’m fine! Why do you ask?”

“Are you sure you don’t have a fever or something?” I questioned again.

“I’m doing that thing where I successfully ward off people with my awkwardness, right?” he asked with a self-deprecating smirk.

“No, not at all! It’s just… I…” I started. Mikey was giving me a quizzical look.

“Thank you…for saying all that,” I told him as I looked down. “I always thought that guys never wanted to go out with me because there was something wrong with me. Like I wasn’t normal.”

“Oh, you’re far from normal,” Mikey told me with a shake of his head.

I bent an eyebrow at him.

“But that’s what makes you so great,” Mikey said with a warm look in his eyes.

We were quiet for a while again.

“So…how long do you plan on staying out here?” I asked Mikey.

“I don’t know. I literally can’t sleep. And I don’t want to waste this,” he said as he gestured to the sky with a finger. He looked over at me. “If you’re tired, you should go to sleep.”

“I’m not tired,” I answered him.

Mikey raised an eyebrow at me.

“I mean it this time!” I giggled out.

“Okay… but if you fall asleep on me, I’ll…draw a moustache on you or something…” Mikey said with a giggle.

I laughed as I drummed my bandaged hands on the dusty wooden panels beside me. “That’s not gonna happen…” I answered.

We stayed sitting out on the porch for another few minutes. We didn’t talk, we just watched the sky move across the silent desert.

“Hey, I have an idea!” Mikey suddenly announced as he stood up on the porch.

“What?” I asked without getting up.

“Follow me,” he said with a bright look in his eyes as he walked into the shop.

Mikey and I had gone to the office that was in the back of the store. His “idea” was to pick out all the CD’s with tracks that he liked and make me listen to every song that he believed I shouldn’t die without knowing.  

We found dusty headphones that weren’t really great quality, but they would work. We plugged them into the CD player and held them between us so I could listen to one speaker and he could listen to the other.

We must have spent at least two hours in that office, just listening to lyrics, melodies, and wonderful sounds. Every time one of his favorite lyrics came up or one of his favorite instrumental sections came up, he would tell me just before we heard it—and he would always ask me what I thought of the song after it finished playing.

Luckily, I liked everything he made me listen to. In fact, I _loved_ it all. Even though I had listened to all these tracks before, the way that Mikey instructed me to listen to each one made it feel like I was hearing them for the first time.

“I wish I could share all my favorite music with you,” I wistfully remarked as soon as the last track on the current CD ended.

“I don’t know… I mean, how old were you when Siamese Dream came out?” Mikey teased as he was slumped on the burgundy swivel chair.

“How old were you when Queen came out with _Bohemian Rhapsody_?” I argued.

“Fair enough,” Mikey answered with a lazy smile.

“You look tired,” I remarked.

“I’m not tired…” he said with a slight slur.

I rolled my swivel chair closer to Mikey and told him, “Yes you are. Look, you can’t even keep your eyes open…”

Mikey closed his eyes. I smiled.

“I’m not asleep,” he muttered with his eyes still closed.

I laughed out loud. “Darn, so close…”

“It takes years of practice and Jedi mind powers to do that,” he breathed out with a laugh.

It became quiet in the musty office again. Mikey started to breathe more slowly, slumping his head back across the headrest of the chair. His golden hair had fallen over his forehead and eyes, but he didn’t seem to care.

“Mikey?” I softly asked.

“I’m not…asleep…” he slurred out.

A smile played at the corner of my mouth as I rolled my chair back and started yawning.

“Are you still not asleep?” I asked.

Mikey didn’t respond. I think he was really asleep now.

I studied his face to make sure. He’s definitely asleep. The peaceful expression on his sleeping face made him look even younger–and goddamn, he was so beautiful.

It saddened me a bit to know that this was probably the last time I would ever see him like this.

I got up from my chair, stretched out my arms and yawned again. I walked over and turned off the light switch, finding my place back to my chair in the darkness, and fell asleep.

 

Just a couple hours later, we were woken up by the burst of the office door and light that flooded in.

“Here you guys are!” Frank announced in a voice that sounded louder than it needed to be.

I rubbed my eyes and scratched my head, trying to stretch out on the chair I was rested on.

“We almost thought you guys had run off or had been taken by bandits,” Frank added with a chuckle.

“Too early… Need more sleep…” Mikey groaned as he tried to curl back into his chair.

“Ugh, what time is it?” I asked as I tried to smooth out my tangles of hair.

“It’s already eight o’clock. Time to get up and go!” Frank said in an annoyingly bright voice. He was practically glowing. “Come on, Mikey… Gerard was a little worried when he saw you were gone—and by a little, I mean a lot.” Frank went over to Mikey and started pulling on his arms.

“Go away, Frank,” Mikey mumbled as he let his arms hang limply in Frank’s hold.

“Leya, help me out here,” Frank said in pitiful tone as he pouted at me.

“No,” I replied as I turned my face back into the chair, hoping for five more minutes’ rest.

He gasped. “How mean! After all I’ve done for you, you won’t even help me do this one simple thing—“

“Alright, I’ll get up… Where the hell is coffee when you need it?” Mikey said with a yawn as he stood up stretching.

Frank clapped a hand across Mikey’s back as he started walking the sleepy blonde out of the office. He looked over at me quickly and stuck his tongue out.

I shook my head at this with a smile and leaned forward, running a hand through my hair.

We were all quick to get ready, taking all the supplies we’d need out to the cars. The sky was a bright blue, the desert was as golden brown as could be, and the air was a comfortable, warm temperature. Hopefully this was a sign of good things to come our way today.

As the guys started loading the trunk, I decided to take one more look back at the shop. I crossed my hands behind my head, admiring the old, faded yellow shop with its broken windows and rusty bearings.

“Whatcha doing?” Frank asked as he came up to stand next to me. He had his aviator sunglasses on.

“Saying goodbye,” I answered as I turned to face him.

He nodded in return. “Are you sure it’s goodbye?”

I sighed. “Not completely sure, but… I really don’t think I’ll see it again.”

It was quiet as I could feel Frank staring at me.

“What?” I irritably asked.

“If this is your goodbye to the shop, I don’t think I want you to say goodbye to me,” he said while keeping a flat look on his face.

I scoffed. “And what’s that supposed to mean?”

“Um, your face for one—it’s all mopey! And sad! Cue the Sarah McLachlan background music!” Frank continued with big hand gestures.

“Whatever—I’m not sad to be leaving this place! It was good to us—it gave us a place to stay and it deserves a proper farewell,” I explained to him as I crossed my arms, looking back at the shop.

“Uh-huh, whatever you say…” Frank said while he stretched his arms out. Last night, he had massaged the part of his arm that hurt, so he was able to move it a bit more easily. But I could tell from his grimace that it still hurt him. “Well, the Firebird’s ready to go. You ready to take it out?”

I gulped. I was really nervous about this. “Are you guys sure you don’t want to change your mind about letting me keep it?”

Frank smiled. “We’re definitely sure. 100% sure. Besides, Mikey will be with you, since he knows how to drive stick-shift. Ray does, too, but you know, he only has one eye right now, so he can’t really drive… Plus, he wants to stay alive, so that’s why he’s going with me and Gerard in the Trans-Am.”

I shot a glare at Frank.

“Kidding…” he said with a big grin as he put his hands up in defense.

I sighed. I wasn’t sure about this. My hands were shaking.

Frank put his hands on my shoulders, walking me toward the Firebird across the dirt. “You’ll be fine! It’s like driving an automatic, except you have an extra pedal and you have to change gears every now and then.”

“Have you ever driven a stick-shift?” I asked as I turned around.

Frank paused before answering, squinting an eye upward while keeping his mouth open. “Well no, not really…but I mean, how different can it be from the arcade?”

Oh dear…


	17. Chapter 17

“Okay, to start off, you’re gonna want to press down on the clutch first,” Mikey started as he was in the passenger seat next to me in the Firebird.

I had to move my seat up almost as far as it could go since my legs are so small, and I felt all the pedals before doing anything. It had been about 3 years since I’d driven a car. I hoped it was like riding a bicycle–that I wouldn’t forget how to do it.

The car lurched forward an inch, the gears loudly grinding, and stopped as I quickly pressed the brakes.

“Mikey, I can’t do this!” I quickly told him while shaking my head.

“No, you’re going to be fine! Just make sure to keep your left foot on the clutch—slowly release it while you gently press the accelerator pedal…”

It took me two tries to get it down right and then the car started moving normally. I had never felt so nerve-wracked driving a car before.

“Good, you got it!” Mikey told me with an encouraging smile.

“We’ll catch up to you!” Gerard called out from just outside my window. Oh yeah—he, Ray, and Frank had all been watching me screw up… Now they were getting in the Trans-Am.

“Okay, let’s get this baby up to second gear now!” Mikey enthusiastically tooted.

“How do I do that?” I nervously asked. I was going at a snail’s pace onto the road.

“Well, speed up,” Mikey told me. I did. “And you hear the engine working harder?”

I quickly nodded, growing worried.

“That means you need to change gears. It’s usually about every 15 miles per hour that you need to change until you get to 5thgear. So go ahead, and change to second.”

I pressed the clutch, sped up on the accelerator, and shifted the gear into second position, with a bit more ease this time than last.

I breathed out a noise that was a mix between relief and celebration. Mikey laughed at this.

At that moment, the Trans-Am zoomed passed us on the other side of the road. Frank and Ray waved their hands at us as they were smiling.

“How about getting this car above 30 miles per hour?” Mikey asked me. I worked my way through the gears until I got the car past 60 mph—which was great because I didn’t have to change gears anymore.

“See, this isn’t so bad…” Mikey told me with a smile.

“Yeah, I guess so,” I answered. I sat back and relaxed in my seat, loosening my iron grip on the steering wheel.

Mikey quietly giggled.

“Am I a terrible driver?” I asked, feeling a flush of embarrassment.

“No! I mean… it’s your first time driving stick-shift, so I don’t expect you to be good at it,” he told me.

I let out a little laugh. “So I _am_ terrible…”

“You just need practice,” Mikey said with a comforting tilt of his eyebrows. He leaned forward to turn on the stereo.

“Oh no!” I started.

“What?” Mikey asked.

“I can’t drive with music on. Not even when in an automatic…” I rapidly explained.

“Okay,” he replied as he turned it off. “Think you can catch up to Gerard?” He had a toothy smirk on his face. Gerard was at least 500 ft in front of me—and he was going slow on purpose.

“Sure,” I answered with a grin.

It was then that I finally realized I’M DRIVING A FIREBIRD. ON ROUTE GUANO. NO SPEED LIMIT. WHY THE _HELL_ AM I ONLY GOING 65 MILES PER HOUR?!

I increased my speed, relishing in the sound of the wind rushing past. I looked in my rearview mirror to see that stretch of road and desert behind me, but I noticed something small and black on the road. I focused on the faraway object, wondering if it might have just been a mirage.

“What is it?” Mikey asked as he studied my face.

“I think I see something back there…” I said, still looking into the mirror. The object came closer. And then it was followed by three more objects coming up behind it.

Mikey had poked his head out of the window and was looking back. “I can hardly make out what it is, but there’s definitely something out there.”

I switched my vision to the front, focusing on catching up to the Trans-Am. Gerard and the others were still well ahead of me.

“Oh shit,” Mikey softly said as he sat back in the passenger seat. His eyes were wide. “You have to catch up to Gerard. Speed up!”

“What? What is it?” I asked, starting to feel nervous again as I hit the gas.

“Dracs!” Mikey answered as he took out his crimson ray gun.

“Dracs?!” I echoed.

I looked into the rear-view mirror again and saw that there were about a dozen specks now, catching up fast. Shit.

“They’re on bikes. And they’ve seen us,” Mikey responded.

I was just 200 ft behind Gerard, going 90 mph.

“Get on the other side so I can tell Gerard,” Mikey told me. I went even faster onto the opposite lane so I could catch up to Gerard, keeping his same pace once I did.

“We’re being followed by Dracs!” Mikey yelled out of the window to Gerard.

“What?!” Gerard asked.

“Dracs! Like 300 feet away!” Mikey hollered as he waved an arm behind the car.

The other guys looked back and I saw the alertness come into all their faces.

“You guys get in front of me!” Gerard yelled. “We’ll hold them off!” He turned to Frank and Ray, telling them words I couldn’t hear.

“Well, you heard him,” Mikey told me.

“What are we supposed to do?” I asked.

“For now, just focus on driving,” he responded. I quickly nodded as I returned to the right side of the road in front of Gerard. I was still going just above 90 mph. I looked in the rearview mirror to see Frank and Ray stand up from inside the car out of the windows on the Trans-Am.

I also saw that the Dracs had come even closer. Shit. I tried to just focus on getting up over these desert hills but I couldn’t completely ignore that I was increasing the distance between me and Gerard, which meant that he was slowing down.

Mikey was silent, but I knew he was on edge as well. He was looking at the side-view mirror on his side.

I looked back in the mirror and could see lights darting back and forth between the Trans-Am and the Dracs. Gerard was driving in the middle of the road now, with Frank and Ray shooting at the Dracs–who had also started shooting

“They caught up,” I whispered out. Mikey stuck his head out of the window again to see.

“Oh no…” he muttered.

“What do you mean ‘Oh no’?” I asked with a careful look.

“There’s a couple Dracs that passed up Gerard. They’re coming for us.” He moved his arm up onto the top of the car and hauled himself up, sitting against the window sill.

Looking at him balance himself just outside the window made me nervous. My heart started beating faster. I looked behind and indeed saw two Dracs coming up fast on bikes.

“Ease up on the gas a bit,” Mikey yelled to me.

I did so, and the Dracs had come even closer. Mikey shot at one, making him fall off of his bike into the road. I winced at this. The other Drac had come over onto my side of the car and was starting to aim toward me.

Shit… I sped up on the gas, trying to get in front of the Drac so Mikey could get him.

Lasers started hitting against the back of the car, making a small crack in the back window.

“Step on the brake!” Mikey yelled as he clung to the roof of the car while bending down to tell me.

“What?!” I quickly replied.

“Just do it!” Mikey yelled.

I punched the brake with my foot, causing the tires to squeal and a grinding sound to come out of the engine. Fucking stick-shift…

Mikey had to hold on tight because he nearly fell out of the car, but then the Drac was in front of the car. Mikey took this moment to shoot at the Drac. The laser hit his chest and he slumped over the front of his bike, losing control of it.

“Fuck!” I gasped out as I swerved out to the side of the road to barely dodge the fallen bike. Half of the tires were in the dirt and half were on the road, bumping along until I got back on the road.

Mikey dropped back into the car while quickly telling me, “You have to put the gear in neutral!” Before I could do it myself, he quickly grabbed the gear control over my knuckles and moved it into the neutral position. “Now step on the clutch like you’re switching gears again!”

I did and Mikey then moved the gear to the 5th position. “When you brake hard like that, you have to put the gear in neutral and then switch back into the right gear once you accelerate again,” he breathlessly explained as he took his hand off of the gear control.

“Oh,” was all I could reply with. I was shaking.

Mikey immediately looked back again through the window, pulling his red sleeves up. “There’s more coming,” he said as he stood up to take his firing position again.

Fucking hell…

I looked in the rear-view mirror to see three of them this time. Behind the Dracs I could see that Frank and Ray only had to deal with four more of their own.

The Dracs came on their bikes fast as Mikey shot at them. They shot back, hitting the sides and the roof of the car. I looked back through my side-view mirror to see one of them go down. The others started speeding up.

“Hold on, Mikey!” I yelled as I swerved to move the car in front of the Dracs while stepping off the gas a little. They stepped on the brakes as I cut them off, which gave Mikey an opportunity to shoot one down. The other was starting to come around on the right towards Mikey.

Mikey shot toward the Drac, but missed. I stepped on the accelerator again to distance us between the bike as the Drac started shooting at Mikey.

The next second, the tire on the Drac’s bike popped and the Drac lost balance. He swerved off the side of the road, tumbling into the dirt. The Trans-Am was now right behind us and I could see Frank and Ray high-fiving each other.

“Is that all of them?” I asked as Mikey sat back down in the passenger seat.

“Yeah, I think so…” he answered while pushing his hair back.

“Why is it that you can’t get anywhere in this desert without trouble coming after you?” I said as I put my head back with a sigh of frustration. The back of my shirt clung to the seat with perspiration. I still had my hands tightly gripped on the steering wheel. I’m pretty sure they were fused together now with how strong of a hold I had on it.

“Sorry about that. But the worst is over! And you handled the car very well in an emergency!” Mikey cheerily told me.

I managed to make a small smile.

“Hey…” Mikey started. “It looks like Gerard stopped.”

I looked through my rear-view mirror and saw indeed that the car was stopped on the road, turned around near where that Drac fell.

“We should turn around,” Mikey told me.

“Okay,” I said as I slowed down and got prepared to brake. I remembered to put the gear in neutral this time and did a U-turn to drive back to where Gerard, Frank, and Ray where.

I stopped the car in the dirt on the opposite side of the road where the Trans-Am was parked. Gerard, Frank and Ray were all huddled about ten ft away from it. As Mikey and I walked to the dirt on the other side, they were already walking back to the car.

Gerard was putting his gun into his pant holster with a grim downward stare.

“Is he dead?” Mikey asked, referring to the Drac.

“Yeah,” Gerard mumbled out the side of his mouth.

“Hey, are you guys okay?” Frank asked as he came up to me and Mikey. He was adjusting the yellow and black striped cloth on his right elbow as he looked at us with a concerned expression in his eyes.

“We’re fine,” I answered.

“Yeah, all good,” Mikey answered him. “You guys?”

“Yeah,” Frank nodded.

Ray had walked up to us saying, “That was some pretty random shit, huh?”

“I definitely wasn’t expecting it…” I muttered.

“You sure you feeling okay? That was your first road battle, huh?” Frank addressed to me.

I nodded up and down fervently. “Yeah, I’m fine. I mean, it probably would have been easier if I didn’t have to drive stick-shift, but no one’s hurt and that’s all that matters.”

Frank softly laughed as he put a wavy dark strand out of his face. “I told you it would be easy…”

“I’m impressed. I was actually a bit worried about how you’d handle the Dracs chasing us,” Ray told me with a smile. “But you did great for a beginner!”

I smiled downward.

“You guys ready to go? Sweetwater’s just 20 miles away,” Gerard said as he leaned against the hood of the Trans-Am. “It would be better to get there before anyone else catches up to us.”

We all got into our cars and continued our journey. I still had a little trouble working with the gears and slowing down, but soon enough we arrived at the Killjoy haven of Sweetwater Gulch.

I turned the car off with relief and reached in the back for my jacket. I brought the collar close to my nose and smelled it. The new leather smell was still there, at least. I smiled. There’s a possibility that Krys is here, even if it is a slim one.

We all got out of the cars, greeting each other again.

“Well, this is it,” Gerard told me with a smile. He smoothed his red hair out of his face to look toward the walls of the Killjoy hideout.

The walls were even taller than the ones at the BL/ind prison in Zone 4. There was a whole concrete perimeter that stretched on and on… And just above the tops of the wall, I could see electricity towers grouped together. The main wall itself was bordered by an electrical fence, with one vertical partition—which I assumed was where the entrance was. The fence extended past the end of the concrete wall, through which I could see shining troughs laid row upon row. I think this was like an energy plant…

“What is this place?” I asked as I looked up.

“This Killjoy hideout has been here since 2016. It was built on top of an energy plant. It was a battle to keep this place from the clutches of BL/ind, and it’s a battle they win again and again. The exterminators haven’t been able to get inside this place. There’s strength in number for the Killjoys, and just beyond that wall is another wall welded out of iron,” Gerard explained to me with his hands on his hips.

“It’s a freakin’ fortress…” I breathed out.

Gerard smiled at me. “Which is why I wanted to take you here. You’ll be safe and you won’t have to run from the exterminators again.”

I can’t believe that he’d risked his life—he’d put saving Grace on hold—just to get me here. And not just him, but also the other guys. I looked down, trying not to let my emotions get the better of me. But geeze, this was such a nice thing to do for me…

“So where do we ring the doorbell again?” Frank asked as he crossed his arms.

The squeal of a microphone blared out and then, “Who goes there?”

I looked around to see where the noise came from and spotted two small speakers that looked like megaphones on top of the wall.

“Do we just talk back to it?” I asked.

“There’s a video camera system,” Gerard explained before he turned toward the megaphones and said, “Party Poison, Kobra Kid, Fun Ghoul, and Jet Star at your service!”

“Let me get a better look at you…” the voice answered. I could see the small cameras next to the megaphone-looking thing rotate. “Aha! Yup, it’s you rascals again. Have a recent clap?”

Gerard laughed. “Just a minor run-in with the exterminator’s goons! We’re all good, though!”

“You Fabulous Killjoys, always leading death around a hairpin turn! Well, it’s good to see you haven’t been dusted yet!” the voice resumed.

“Yeah,“ Gerard replied with a toothy grin. "Hey, I’ve got a new refugee for ya, Axel! Her name is Stellar!” Gerard called out.

I smiled and tried to look friendly.

“Oh! I think we _may_ have room in here!” Axel (I presume) replied.

“The Fabulous Killjoys?” A female voice came out of the speakers this time. “What in the hell are you doin’ bringing trouble to my doorstep?!”

We all had looks of discomfort on our faces. Apparently not everyone liked the Fabulous Killjoys.

“We don’t mean to bring any tr—“ Gerard started.

“You know you’ve got the _entire_ SCARECROW unit looking for you? Dr. D reported last night how ya’ll blew that prison to goddamn Costa Rica!”

“Look, Flora—“ Gerard tried to say again.

“No, _you look here_ , Party!” Flora (I presume again) retorted. “I work too goddamn hard keeping my family and friends safe. I don’t want all that sacrifice and all this security to be destroyed ‘cause you feel like ‘Hey, I’m the most wanted motherfucker out in the Zones. Why don’t I go to the one place that is safe and free from the Exterminator and cause another fucking war. Let me destroy the one last remnant of peace in this godforsaken desert!’”

“Calm the fuck down!” Axel said in a bemused voice.

Frank choked out a laugh as he looked down.

“Did you just tell me to calm the fuck down?” Flora argued.

“I’m sorry—Honey, _please_ calm down…” Axel said in a completely submissive tone.

“You son of a bitch—you’re not getting any dinner tonight…” Flora returned.

I smiled at this.

“Look, Flora, we don’t mean to intrude or ‘ _destroy_ ’ anything…” Gerard said, obviously trying hard not to lash out.

“Choose your next words carefully, Party Poison…” Flora warned.

“We don’t want anything from you. We’ll be on our way soon, just—“ Gerard walked over to me and placed his hands on my shoulders. “Please let her stay. She’s got nowhere to go. I know that if she stays with us, she’s going to run into danger, and I don’t want that for her. And I know that there’s no safer place for her to be than Sweetwater. That’s all I ask.”

It was quiet for a few seconds. I looked up at Gerard, who had an intense look on his face as he looked toward the camera.

“You got a name, honey?” Flora asked.

I cleared my throat. “My name is Stellar. Stellar Jazz.”

I laughed at how stupid it sounded, meeting eyes with Frank, who was also giggling.

“I’m Flora. Flora Spine.”

“Nice to meet you,” I called out.

“Same here,” Flora kindly replied. I was so glad she wasn’t yelling at me.

“So you’ll let her stay?” Gerard asked.

“’Course I will!” Flora replied. “Ya think I’m heartless or somethin’?”

“No, definitely not,” Gerard answered with a meek look.

“We’ll open the gate for you, hon,” Flora directed to me.

“It looks like this is as far as we go,” Gerard turned and told me. “We’re not welcome here, and I really don’t want to impose where we’re not wanted.”

I looked up in dismay. “But that’s not fair!”

“It’s okay. The thing about us is that…we do get into a lot of trouble and it follows us everywhere. I mean, you saw what happened today just driving over here…”

I looked down. I had hoped to at least spend a bit more time with the guys before I had to say goodbye.

“Anyway, I understand where Flora’s coming from, so I won’t push her any further,” Gerard continued with a complacent smile.

“But I thought this was supposed to be the most secure Killjoy hideout in the Zones! I thought it has never been infiltrated or whatever…” I started fuming. “If this place is so safe that BL/ind can’t even touch it, what’s so wrong with you guys being here for a little bit?!”

“Now, listen, this place is the safest place in all of the Zones. That doesn’t mean we don’t work hard to keep it that way,” Flora said from the speakers again.

“Maybe you shouldn’t be so harsh…” Axel cautiously told Flora.

“I ain’t bein’ harsh!” Flora lashed back. “You know just as well as I that if anyone finds out that they’re here, they won’t stop at nothing to get them.”

“We can handle anything that comes our way,” Axel warmly said.

“Please?” I called out. “If they can’t come in…then I don’t want to stay here.”

“Leya, quit being a fucking pain in the ass,” Frank mumbled as he put his head back in frustration.

“It’s fine by me if you don’t want to stay here. I won’t have those Fabulous Killjoys endangering us,” Flora coldly told me.

“Honey, please? At least let ‘em stay a little while. It’s been a long time. I wanna catch up with them a bit, myself,” Axel told her.

“You go ahead and get out of here then. Go _catch up…”_ Flora told him.

“Oh come on, don’t be like that…” Axel objected.

“You know, leaving us out here gives people more time to see that they’re here!” I called out again.

“Jesus Christ–Will you all shut up!” Flora lashed out. I bit my lip.

Everyone was quiet for a few seconds.

“Come in,” Flora finally muttered.

My face lit up. “Really?”

“Yes, _really_! Now ya’ll better come on in before I change my mind,” Flora answered.

I looked to all the guys and smiled widely. They smiled back.

“You’re incredible, you know that?” Gerard told me with a wide smile.

“My god, you’re like a persuasive little shark!” Frank told me with a crease in his brow as he lightly pushed my shoulder.

“Bring in the metal beasts with ya, too,” Axel said across the speakers as the gate started to open. “There’s been talk of the Exterminator crossing these paths lately. It ain’t safe to be out here.”

We all headed back toward the cars.

“You know what, I think I’ll let you take the Firebird in,” I told Mikey as I handed him the keys. I didn’t want to have to deal with not stalling the car again.  

He smiled and didn’t say a word back as he got in the car. I got in the passenger seat, watching the electric fence moving, as well as the wall behind it, opening backwards. It was similar to a drawbridge, or how they would move those bridges across rivers to let the huge barges go by. How in the hell they accomplished this is beyond me…

Once we drove inside the perimeter, I could just see dirt and small buildings scattered around. I think there were six, including two big ones and what looked like a watch tower. There was a dirt lot close to the entrance with about twenty cars parked in several rows.

Once we parked and got out of the cars, we were met with a burly-looking man and a skinny, tall woman. They looked like they were in their late 30’s or early 40’s.

“Hi! My name’s Axel. Axel Rose,” the man said as he extended a hand toward me.

Gerard snickered. “You’re seriously still going by that name?”

“Hey…if we’re gonna have fake names, might as well make it fun, right?” Axel said with a chuckle.

He was bald, but had a dark five o-clock shadow beard. He was also tall, maybe 6’2”, and _big_. His huge belly and arms made him look like he could crush me without any effort, but he had a friendly face.

“Ya’ll don’t look too much worse for wear,” he said as he studied the guys.

“Neither do you, man,” Gerard answered as he gave him a brief embrace.

“Except for Fun and Jet. That’s a new scar, ain’t it?” Axel addressed to Frank as he pointed toward Frank’s right cheek.

Frank half-heartedly rose a hand to the pink scar on his face as he answered,“Yes, it is. Pretty sweet, though, ain’t it?”

Axel smiled back at Frank and replied, “Hell yeah, man.”

I rolled my eyes at this. What is it with men and scars?

“And Jet, what happened with the eye?” Axel asked.

“Oh, just bruised and swollen from a fight with some agents,” Ray said while scratching his beard.

“Ya know, I think I got something kinda rad for you to wear over that bandage…” Axel said as he rubbed his chin.

I assumed that the woman next to him was Flora. She wore a pink tank top tucked into khaki pants with a red belt. She had toned, skinny, tanned arms and short, thick, and wavy sandy-colored hair. She was popping gum as she came up to us, extending a hand to me.

“Hi. Welcome to Sweetwater,” she told me as I shook her hand. I hoped she wasn’t still mad at me.

“Thank you. Hi,” I awkwardly blurted out.

Flora smiled. “There’s no need to feel nervous, Stellar. You’re home now.” She patted my arm before she turned to greet the guys.

I looked at the buildings surrounded by dirt.There were a few people around, some of them just standing or sitting. Some of them walking around. There was probably more people inside the buildings.

So _this_ is home now.


	18. Chapter 18

The first thing Axel and Flora decided to do was give me a tour of the place. Gerard, Ray, Frank, and Mikey also came with.

“Now, the compound only has six buildings, but we have eight acres of land, plus what was left of the energy plant that was here before the Helium Wars broke out,” Flora started explaining. “And 76 of us here are permanent residents. People pass and go all the time, though—that’s why there’s so many cars here,” she continued as we started walking along one of the buildings.

It looked fairly modern. It was brown, had three levels, and was like the size of a small company building.

“And here…” Flora started as she opened the door to the building, “Is where the dormitories are.”

Inside, it smelled like old books, something that had been lost to me for years. I liked it. The hallways were furnished with bluish gray carpet and there were doors to one side and a wall on the other side. Most of the doors were left open, and as we passed by, I could see people inside them.

“We don’t have that many beds or rooms, so we usually have people share. I hope that’s okay with you?” Flora asked me.

“Yeah, that’s fine,” I answered.

“We also have a hospital ward on this floor. It’s separated from the rooms, but we figured with all the Killjoys that come here with injuries, it might be beneficial if we had a place where they could get patched up,” Axel said. “Speaking of which, come with me, Jet.”

Ray’s eyes widened as he asked, “Where are we going?”

“I got somethin’ to give ya!” Axel eagerly answered as he led Ray down another hall.

Gerard, Frank, Mikey, and I exchanged shrugs as we kept following Flora. 

On the second floor of the building were more rooms and an area for lounging, meetings (apparently as a society they had something like town meetings) and video games. There were some people up there now. Old, middle-aged, some that looked around my age, some children.

“No way… you guys have video games?” Mikey exclaimed with raised eyebrows as we passed the area, where three small boys were playing some old game where they had to shoot at flying things in space. The TV they were playing on was old and the screen was black and white—that probably had something to do with the glaring crack in the top right corner of the screen.

“I don’t play, but the kids here, they love it!” Flora answered with a smile.

“Dude, it’s Galaga!” Mikey gushed to Frank and Gerard.

“What, you want to stay here and play, Mikey?” Gerard told his brother.

“Maybe…” Mikey said with a defensive sideways glance.

We moved along to the third floor, which was empty except for heaps of boxes and an old computer.

“We haven’t figured out what to do with this place yet, but we might just end up furnishing more rooms for people to sleep in,” Flora explained.

“How many people do you usually get to stay here?” I asked.

Flora tapped her foot in concentration. “Oh…maybe about five or so people come each month. But most don’t stay. A lot of people come for refuge, but no one usually stays long. It’s like everyone wants to be a hero and goes off looking for agents and Dracs to shoot down. Mostly the younger people. I think it has something to do with you gentlemen,” Flora said with a stoic stare at Gerard, Mikey, and Frank.

“What did _we_ do?” Frank asked.

“It’s not that you _did_ anything! It’s the fact that you guys exist—the fact that you make it your mission to blow something up each week—the fact that you go around making it seem like living on the run is so glamorous—like you’re invincible—”

“We never said anything about—“ Gerard argued.

“You didn’t have to say anything! You and Dr. D—riling up the youth like ya’ll are leading a fucking revolution! That damn moronic phrase—‘Killjoys never die’? Well, they do. And they do frequently. But as long as you guys are still kicking,  all the young’ns believe in that nonsense.”

We were all quiet now.

Flora sighed as she had her arms crossed, still popping gum. “Look, I could rant all day, but that ain’t gonna get us nowhere.” She raised an eyebrow at all of us. “Now, let’s get on out of here. I’ll show you how we make a living for ourselves, here, Stellar,” Flora directed to me with a smile.

As we walked down the stairs from the second floor, I decided to ask what had been lingering in my head since the moment we got here.

“So… you get a lot of younger people here?” I asked Flora.

“Well, a lot of them come and leave, but yes. Why do you ask?” she answered.

“Well…I’m looking for someone,” I nervously started before I took a deep breath. “Is there anyone named Krys here?”

“Krys?”

“Or Krysten? She would be just two years older than me,” I asked, holding my breath in for hope.

“I’m sorry, Stellar. But no. We’ve never had a Krysten here.”

“It’s okay. It was a really small hope I had,” I said, putting a smile on my face.

I caught gazes with Mikey. He was looking at me with concern. I looked away and followed Flora down the steps.

Once we got outside, Axel and Ray were waiting for us. Ray had a new accessory—a black eye patch to go over the bad eye.

“Whoa-ho…” Gerard let out with a grin. “Toro, you got an eye patch?”

“How does it look?” Ray asked with a bashful face as he put a hand to it gently.

“You look like a fuckin’ pirate,” Frank giggled out.

“Hey, pirates are awesome!” Ray returned with a determined look in his one exposed eye.

“I think it looks awesome,” Mikey added with a grin.

“See, what’d I tell ya, Jet?” Axel said as he lightly elbowed Ray. Ray was beaming as he tucked a few curly strands of hair behind his ear.

It did kind of make him look dashing in an epic-pirate-hero kind of way.

Flora rolled her eyes as she cleared her throat. “Come on. I gotta show her the farm.” She took a hold of my hand and started leading me in front of the guys.

“Speaking of, uh, wardrobe…would you like to have a shirt of mine? Or my daughter—she’s about your size…” Flora started telling me.

“What’s wrong with the shirt I have on now?” I asked. Other than the fact that it was probably filthy…

“Oh… I wasn’t aware it was torn on purpose,” Flora replied as she blinked her dark eyes.

I looked down at where she was staring—the piece of my shirt that was ripped and showing off about a quarter of my side and stomach. It had been like this so long, I forgot about it.

“Oh… It’s not,” I answered with a blush. I could hear Frank snickering behind me.

“Well, feel free to take any clothes from me,” Flora continued with a smile. “I don’t need that many outfits anyway. _It’s not like I need to impress anyone around here…_ ”

“Hey, I heard that!” Axel replied from the back of the group.

“Thank you,” I said as I moved the section of my shirt that was torn. I could see that I had jagged tan lines on my stomach. Great.

Frank giggled as he quickly walked up to my side. “You know, I think I still have the rest of your shirt on me somewhere…” He reached into one of his vest pockets and indeed pulled out the piece of black cloth.

“Want it back? I washed it. There’s no more blood on it,” he told me with a laugh.

“No, thanks. You keep it—as a souvenir,” I joked.

“Oh, I feel so honored…” Frank said as he carefully folded it and placed it into one of his pockets again.

“Here we are! Don’t let the smell bug you too much,” Flora said as she got to a small fence enclosure. I could see a large area of dirt, with what looked like wooden stables partitioned to one side and rows of all kinds of plants coming up from the ground on the other side, covered with a sheer canopy.

“Whoa… When you say you farm, you really mean you have a farm…” I remarked in awe. There were so many different greens, reds, browns—so much color. And it was real food!

“Well, we weren’t going to live off of preserved foods forever,” Flora remarked as she unhooked the door of the fence. “Long ago, we gathered up all the seeds that we could and planted them. Of course, with the dry air and the heat constant all year round, it’s taken a bit of time to get much fruit out of all the work, but now we produce enough to provide for all the residents.”

She beckoned for us to follow her in the soft dirt path that bordered the fields. There were a few people working in between the rows, bending down, picking some of the plants, watering them, and whatever else farmers did. I don’t think I’d seen anyone farm anything since I was a little kid.

“Do you just eat what you plant?” I asked Flora.

“Nah,” she answered without turning back to me. “We make our own bread and the chickens provide meat and protein.”

“Chickens?” I asked.

“Yes. We also have a few cows, some pigs, a few horses, and a few goats—but it’s never been enough to feed the entire community—so we decided to spare these animals’ lives,” Flora explained with a smile. “Besides, as long as we get enough protein and nutrition from vegetables, eggs, and milk, there’s really no need to eat meat.”

“How have the dust storms been treating Sweetwater?” Gerard asked.

“Not too bad,” Axel replied. “Of course, with it bein’ so dry lately, some of the crops have withered away. But we can always count on having enough cactus to eat.”

“ _Cactus_?” Mikey questioned with huge eyes.

“Yup. Just boil it, pick out the spines, and serve it any way you like. Tastes pretty good,” Axel responded.

“My grandma used to eat cactus,” I said with a smile. I remember being small, maybe about 4 or 5 years old, watching her quickly picking off the spines from the cactus leaf and then chopping it up. I never ate it because I thought it would taste gross.

“Shit, we could have been eating cactus the entire time we were starving…” Frank commented.

Ray laughed at this. “At least we know that now…”

“Well, the only problem about getting cactus is that we have to get out of Sweetwater to get it. It’s a bit risky, but when you’re starvin’, you’re starvin’…” Flora added.

We walked along more sections of vegetables until we got to the small wooden stables.

“You know, I don’t remember you showing us this the last time we were here,” Ray announced while looking all around.

“That’s because I didn’t,” Flora replied with a sly look. At that moment, we had followed under the roof a shack with a long pathway between it. There was hay all around the ground and it was dark—filled with a stench I couldn’t quite put my finger on.

“So let me get this straight—you have horses?” Frank asked as he pushed his sunglasses on top of his head.

“I told ya, didn’t I?” Flora answered.

Frank shrugged in response.

“I’m gonna show you my pride and joy, Stellar,” Flora told me as she lightly patted my arm.

“Caelan!” she hollered out into the long pathway. There was a silence.

“Caelan!” she hollered again. “I swear to God, if you don’t get your butt over here _right now_ —“

“I’m coming! Geeze!” Was the response that belonged to a boy that hoisted himself over the chest-high partition from a stable to the open pathway. He looked only a little younger than me. He was wearing a sleeveless lavender shirt and black pants. He was thin and lanky, with a thick head of hair, most of which was flopped over his eyes at the moment. He had this odd red marking on his face that looked like a lightning bolt over his left eye—kind of how Gerard did the star on me that other day.

The boy, Caelan, had jumped off the partition, grumbling while pushing his brown hair out of his eyes, “What are you yelling at me for?! I got up early to go clean the stables just like you sa—” He froze as soon as he saw us. His eyes looked wide until he turned to Flora.

“You didn’t freakin’ tell me the Fabulous Killjoys—that they were here!” he said as he pointed a finger toward us.

“Oh, hush! They barely got here about an hour ago. What difference would it have made if I told ya, anyhow?” Flora nonchalantly replied as she had her hands on her hips.

The boy flushed. “I don’t know—I just— _They’re the Fabulous Killjoys_!”

Gerard and the others exchanged awkward smiles with each other.

Flora sighed. “Oh, get over it!” She turned back to us. “Guys and gal, this is my son, Caelan. Not the pride and joy I was talkin’ about, but my pride and joy nonetheless.”

Caelan straightened up his stature and cleared his throat. “It’s an honor to meet you,” he told the guys.

I bent my eyebrows in confusion, trying not to laugh at the absurdity. This kid was treating the guys like royalty or something! But they responded kindly, smiling and extending their hands to him.

“But haven’t we seen you before? I mean, since you’re Flora’s kid?” Ray questioned as he shook Caelan’s hand.

“Oh, he was too bashful to come out and say hi the last time,” Flora explained with a grin.

Caelan tightened his mouth and gave his mom a rueful stare. “ _Mom_ …”

“You see the effect you have on the young ones?” Flora scoffed with a bemused look.

Gerard laughed. “I couldn’t begin to explain that. We don’t have any control over it.”

“Hey, is it true that you guys blew up the prison in Zone 4?” Caelan asked with an intent stare at the guys. He was totally entranced by their presence. It was weird. He hadn’t even noticed me yet, I bet…

“Uh, yeah…” Frank answered with a short laugh.

“No fucking way! That’s so fucking awesome!” Caelan crowed.

“You watch your filthy mouth!” Flora scolded as she smacked her son behind the ear.

“Ow! Mom, I’m almost 18. Stop treating me like I’m 12…” he responded as he rolled his eyes.

Flora smacked him again. “You’re never old enough to stop having manners. In case you didn’t notice, we have guests here! And you are never to curse in front of a lady!”

“I don’t know if I’d classify you as a ‘lady’,” Caelan retorted.

What a cheeky little bastard…

“Caelan!” Axel barked at him. It was so scary, even I had shivers going down my spine.

Caelan looked like he had frozen as well.

“Don’t you ever disrespect your mother like that,” Axel continued. “And she’s right. You shouldn’t talk like that in front of a lady.”

Axel nodded a head toward me and Caelan shot his eyes toward me like it was the first time he had seen me in the last two minutes. It probably was.

“Oh!” he exclaimed. “Uh… hi… Sorry… Uh… I’m Caelan,” he awkwardly sputtered as he hesitantly put out his hand.

I quickly shook it and answered with a laugh, “I’m Stellar.”

Caelan nodded his head real quick and replied, “Hi,” again. He was just staring at me like I was an alien or something.

I tried not to laugh at this.

“Now that you’ve met my son, the horse care-taker, I can introduce ya’ll to my beloved steed,” Flora told us with a warm smile. “Caelan, bring her out!”

Caelan turned back, still keeping an eye on us. He took a harness from the wall and unlocked the partition door. He quickly walked inside and I could hear the soft breathing of a horse. Holy crap.

He slowly brought out this horse that must have been like 7 feet tall. It was brown, with a splotch of white on its face. It was beautiful with these big brown eyes and soft-looking fur as it walked slowly toward us.

Flora walked up to the horse, gently taking hold of its face and stroking its nose. “Hi, Ella!” she told the horse in a sweet voice. The horse was casually swishing its tail back and forth.

I looked back at the guys. We all exchanged looks of amazement.

“This is Ella,” Flora said as she took the line from Caelan and started walking Ella toward us. “Let’s take her outside!”

We all turned back in the path and got outside in the bright sun. The horse was padding around in the dirt and looked happy.

“What’s with the horse?” Gerard asked Axel, who had his hands in his blue vest pockets as he watched Flora get on the horse.

“Oh, Flora’s been riding horses forever. Ella’s her favorite. That’s actually how this whole thing kind of started… Flora and I lived on a small property in Zone 3 before it was called Zone 3, and she didn’t want to move to Battery City, no matter how much safer it would be. There was no way we were going to be able to take care of the horses there. We put her horses first and moved out here, set up this small farm, and that’s the beginning of Sweetwater.”

Flora and Ella came near us again. Flora was bent over, patting Ella’s neck. “Any of you ever rode a horse before?”

Gerard, Frank, Ray, Mikey, and I all shook our heads.

“Well, maybe we can get you on a horse while you’re here, Stellar,” Flora directed toward me with a smile.

I smiled back. That would be kind of cool…

“Are you guys staying long?” Caelan directed toward us.

“Well, we can’t stay for too long,” Gerard replied. “We have something important to do.”

Caelan’s face dropped. “Oh… I understand…”

“Hey, cheer up. We’ll be back soon,” Frank told him with a smile.

Caelan started smiling again. He let his eyes wander over to me and said, “So _you’re_ staying here?”

I nodded with a hint of a smile, “It looks that way, yeah.”

“Oh… Good,” he said while he nodded his head. “I mean, it’s good that you’re staying here. I think you’ll like it!”

“Where are you guys headed after this?” Axel said as he turned toward Gerard and the others.

Ray and Gerard exchanged looks between each other before answering, “Battery City.”

“Battery City?! Are you out of your fucking minds?!” Axel blurted out.

I could see Mikey curve his mouth in a smile on one side. I’m guessing they got asked that question a lot.

Gerard looked solemn. “They took Grace.”

Axel’s face dropped in dismay. “Oh… I was wondering why she wasn’t with you anymore. But I had hoped it was a good reason.”

“What’s all this talk about Battery City?” Flora questioned as she hopped off of Ella.

“We’re heading there to rescue Grace,” Gerard answered while running a hand through his red hair.

Flora sighed. “Damn it to hell, you boys have a deathwish, don’t ya?”

Gerard made a frustrated sigh. “She’s been there long enough. If we don’t get there soon, there’s no telling what could happen to her!”

I started feeling guilty again. They had put off another week of rescuing her because of me…

“I think we should talk about this in a more appropriate place,” Flora said with a solemn look. She turned to her son and told him, “Caelan, take Ella back to the stable. Stellar, you can go with him. This might take long.” She turned back to the guys. “Now, you boys are gonna tell me all about this trouble you got in my office.”

“You better listen this time,” Frank quietly told me as the others started walking. “From this point on, you’re not going to be involved with us anymore. So you shouldn’t have to stress about it.”

I started to talk back before Frank said again, “Please, for us… Just stay out of it.”

I have to admit, I felt a bit hurt about getting left out now. But he was right; I wasn’t going to Battery City, so it didn’t concern me.

“Oh God, there you go again with the abused puppy look…” Frank said with a sigh as he scratched his head.

I blinked my eyes and tried to put a different expression on my face. “No, I understand. You go ahead. They’re waiting for you.”

I pointed toward Gerard and the others, who were indeed waiting for Frank.

“We’ll meet up later,” Frank told me with a smile as he lightly patted my arm before running to catch up with the others.

I watched them leave until I heard footsteps crunching behind me. “Hey…uh…you want to help me put Ella back in the stable?”

I managed to smile at Caelan. I saw now that he had the same brown eyes as his mother. “Yeah, sure!”

Caelan led Ella by the harness as I walked next to him.

“So you’ve been traveling with the Fabulous Killjoys?” he asked me.

“Yeah, a little over a week now,” I answered.

“So you were with them when they blew up the prison?” Caelan asked.

I laughed. “Yeah. That was crazy…”

“Wow! I mean—you fight with them?!” Caelan’s eyes were wide as he looked over at me.

“A little, I guess. They’re pretty amazing fighters.”

“I bet! And is it true about Kobra Kid—his kung-fu moves? Have you seen ‘em?”

I giggled. How does he know so much about them???

“Yeah. And you know, it’s not like anything you could really imagine—it was…amazing…” I said as I thought back to that battle in the prison.

“I’m completely jealous of you. I’d do anything to be able to fight with the Fabulous Killjoys,” Caelan said as he looked down.

“Oh, I could do without all the fighting. I prefer to not have my life in danger,” I said with a laugh.

“Ha, I’m _waiting_ for the chance that I could put my life in danger,” Caelan said as he opened the door to Ella’s stable.

I looked at him sideways with a crease in my brow. Does he know how stupid he sounds?

“Yeah, well, it’s not all it’s cracked up to be,” I told him as I looked down. “I mean, I’ve almost died like 3 times just this week alone…” I wasn’t even exaggerating.

“At least you’re getting out, doing something! I have to stay here and do the same thing everyday,” he said as he led Ella into the stable and then closed the door after he returned to the main path.

“As long as it’s not Battery City, it can’t be that bad. And you have your family here. Isn’t that enough?” I asked.

“Pssh! No,” Caelan replied with a laugh.

I’m starting to get pissed off at this kid. He has a perfect life here—he doesn’t have to worry about getting killed by Dracs on a daily basis or about finding his family and all he wants to do is go out and fight!

I narrowed my eyes in frustration at him. “You don’t know how lucky you are to have the life that you do!”

His eyes widened in surprise. He probably didn’t expect that from me.

“I’m not an idiot—I know that we’re a lot better off than almost everybody in the Zones. I just feel like I’d be serving the world better by getting out there and fighting against BL/ind directly,” he replied.

“Out there, it’s kill or be killed. It’s not a fucking game,” I told him with a hard gaze. He sounded just like Jax, Diamondback, and Sniper. They were always gone days at a time looking for trouble. And now they’re…

“Geeze, you don’t have to be so fucking intense about it,” Caelan replied as he brushed a hand through his hair.

It was quiet afterward. And not the good kind of quiet like it was with Mikey. I could cut the awkward tension in the air with a knife.

I sighed. “Sorry… It’s just…if _I_ had the choice, I would choose to stay here instead of fight.”

“It’s okay. I’m kind of used to the way you people talk,” he said with a smirk.

“ _You people_?” I questioned.

“Yeah,” he answered. “You Killjoys. Always saying how I shouldn’t leave, how I should just stay where it’s safe. Well, tell me this: if it’s so bad to be out there fighting, why do you do it?”

“Because we have to. It’s survival. You know, most of us had to escape from Battery City. A lot of us lost people that we cared about. And some of us are still looking for those people. I’m pretty sure none of the guys would be fighting if that wasn’t the case,” I answered.  

We were quiet again for a little while. Caelan had crossed his arms.

“I guess you have somewhat of a point. I’m still jealous of you, though,” he told me.

“Well, the Fabulous Killjoys are a pretty great group of guys to be around,” I said with a smile.

Caelan closed the door to Ella’s stable, setting the harness back on the wall next to it.

“So you’re pretty close to them, huh?” he remarked with an upraised eyebrow.

“Well,” I said with a bashful look, “I’ve only known them a short time…”

“Could have fooled me,” Caelan said with that same flick of his eyebrow. “I saw the way you and Fun Ghoul were talking before they left.”

“The way we were talking? Oh, what about it?” I asked. I laughed at the fact that he referred to Frank as ‘Fun Ghoul’.

“Well, I mean—it just looked kind of like you guys were close,” Caelan said as he smoothed a strand of hair from his face.

“Yeah, I guess you could say me and, uh, him, are a bit close. Near-death experiences really do bring people together.” I couldn’t bring myself to call him Fun Ghoul without wanting to laugh. “But you know, he’s also a really nice, funny, sweet guy. And he’s like the best friend anyone could ever have…”

Caelan was staring at me with a purse of his lips. “You’re not, like, together, are you?”

“What?” I asked.

“You know, like… _with him_ ,” he said as he scratched his head, averting his eyes from me.

Once I caught what he meant, I burst out laughing, almost doubling over.

“Is that a no?” Caelan urgently asked with a crease in his brow.

“Me and…” I couldn’t stop laughing! Tears were coming into my eyes!

“Okay, I’ll take that as no…” Caelan muttered. “That’s a no, right?!”

I tried to stop laughing. I had never thought that way about Frank before. “Haha… Yeah, that’s a no. He’s married, anyway,” I replied, finally catching my breath.

“Oh. Good,” Caelan replied with an exhale.

I raised an eyebrow. “Good?”

“Yeah,” he said as he put his hands in his pockets. “Uh…let me walk you back to the dorms. I think I’ll let you meet my sister and her friends. My mom’s office is in that watch tower near the entrance, and I can take you there after. It sounded like she wanted to have a long discussion with those guys.”

“Okay,” I replied as I followed him out of the stable.

I was still cooling down from that laugh attack. But really, why would this kid think that me and Frank were together? I mean, we weren’t acting like it—were we? And I would never think of Frank like that—I mean, he’s married, so it’s completely out of the question. Why am I even spending time thinking about this?

“You want to see the rest of the farm first?” Caelan asked me as we walked out of the stable.

“Uh, sure,” I said.

There definitely were pigs, and goats, and cows here, all roaming within their respective fenced areas. But they all looked kind of skinny. I guess it was because there wasn’t that much grass or hay for them to eat. Caelan also showed me the water system. They had an irrigation system that had been there forever to help run the energy plant that is still partially here—which is where they get all the energy to power the electricity in this facility.

“So you’re from Battery City?” Caelan asked me as we started walking back to the main part of Sweetwater.

“Yes, unfortunately,” I replied.

“So are you all drugged up?” he continued with a laugh.

Well. That was rude.

“No,” I said with an edge to my reply. “Is that what you think everyone in Battery City is like?”

Caelan shrugged. “That’s all I ever hear about. How everyone takes pills to take away all their feelings. Did you have to take pills?”

“Well, if you were a minor, you weren’t allowed to take pills unless they were prescribed to you. You had to get assessed and diagnosed as needing it before you could even have access to it. It’s this whole issue of the effect of drugs on a developing brain.”

Caelan nodded. “So did you ever, you know, get diagnosed with anything?”

I looked down for a brief moment. “Yeah. My parents forced me to get assessed when I was 17 because my teachers were concerned about me and contacted them. You have no idea how fucked up English Lit classes are in Battery City… Basically, I didn’t agree with a lot of ideas, and I expressed that in my essays. The teachers believed that I was ‘just as delusional as those rebels’. Basically, I was a threat to the system.”

“So what did they do?” Caelan had his full attention on me now as we walked on.

“Well, they took me to this place that looks like a doctor’s office—all cold and terrible smelling—and then I had to sit in a room with this ‘specialist’ and they asked me a bunch of questions, made me take several tests, and I even had scans done on my brain in the same week.”

“That sounds terrible…” Caelan remarked.

“And then at the end of it, they said I was ‘depressed’ because I expressed pessimistic, delusional anarchistic thinking. And so I was prescribed pills that were supposed to make me happier, better. And of course I had to take them. I was being monitored constantly by my parents.”

“Did it work?” Caelan asked with an intent look.

I laughed. “You say that as if I had a real problem…”

“Well, no—I didn’t mean it like that. But…did the pills actually make you happier, like they always advertise?” Caelan asked.

“The way that these pills work—they make you feel like you’re dead. You don’t feel anything. You don’t feel sad. You don’t feel angry. You don’t feel happy. Everything is passive. You can’t even go crazy about the fact that they zapped the personality out of you. So since I couldn’t have any feelings about what we were learning in school, I didn’t have any opposing arguments. I was a perfect, colorless sheep.”

“Sounds horrifying,” Caelan remarked.

“Once I graduated, my sister took my pills from me. We were best friends, and she had been away studying at Battery City University the entire time I was on the pills. Once she saw what I had been reduced to, she decided to put an end to it.”

“How did your parents react to that?” Caelan asked.

“It’s funny that you ask that,” I answered. “They were so pumped on drugs that they didn’t even notice for a few months. Until they found out that I didn’t attend the Academy I was supposed to go to, and that I was actually living with my older sister. Then they were very angry. Battery City had a few underground groups of people who were planning on getting out, and my sister and I were a part of one. My parents found out about that, too, and we were disowned—dead to them.”

“Wow…” Caelan said as he rubbed the back of his head. He looked so demoralized. “I never knew things were so bad there…”

I giggled. “I’m one of the lucky ones. It’s much worse for the people living in Battery City.”

“Someone has to put a stop to all that,” Caelan remarked, shaking his head. “Don’t you see why I have to be out there?!”

He was looking at me with big brown eyes now, his face scrunched in a determined frown.

I sighed. “It’s not that easy. BL/ind has an army, millions of loyal citizens under their influence, and a crazy border control.”

Caelan narrowed an eye at me. “You and the Fabulous Killjoys just blew up a BL/ind prison yesterday. Seemed pretty easy for you guys… How hard could it be if a bunch of us joined forces and took on Better Living Industries directly?”

“Victories come at a cost. _We almost died yesterday_. You can’t just casually talk about taking on Better Living Industries,” I argued.

“But the Fabulous Killjoys are going to Battery City on their own. Or aren’t you worried about them?” Caelan looked at me with an angry crease between his eyebrows.

“Whether I’m worried or not, they’re going because they need to save someone important to them,” I answered as I crossed my arms.

“You think they’ll survive?” Caelan asked me.

Why would you ask me a question like that…

Before I could answer, I heard someone calling the rude teenage boy in front of me.

“Caelan!” It was a girl. She came running up to us, waving. She had light brown hair pulled up into a ponytail and she was wearing these pink shorts that reached to her knees, a white shirt underneath a purple and green plaid flannel vest, and a bunch of bracelets on each of her arms.

She had bright green eyes and dots of freckles on her smiling face. “Hey! Are you done cleaning the stables already?”

“Mom came before I could finish,” Caelan started. “You’ll never guess who’s here—“

“The Fabulous Killjoys! I know!” the girl replied with a bright smile.

Caelan’s jaw dropped. “How do you know?”

“Mom gave them a tour of the dorm. Which was actually a tour for you,” the girl said as she turned to me.

“Hi, I’m Veronica. My friends call me Ronnie.” She stuck out a hand for me to take.

“I’m Stellar,” I said as I shook her hand.

“Killjoy name, right?” she questioned. I nodded in return. “I understand. My Killjoy name is Rouge Rivet. So, has my brother hit on you yet?”

“Ronnie!” Caelan was blushing wildly. “Shut the fuck up!”

Ronnie hit her brother on the side of his head. “Manners, Caelan! Well, has my rude brother made any moves on you?”

I laughed. “I’m not sure…”

“Because he hits on all the pretty girls, you know…” Ronnie said with a wink at her brother.

“Really, Ronnie, really?” Caelan remarked with a scoff. “You’re fucked up…”

“What, you don’t think she’s pretty enough for you?” Ronnie asked.

I looked to the side in embarrassment. This is awkward…

“No, I mean, yes…” Caelan’s whole face was red.

Ronnie laughed as she ruffled up his hair. “I’m just messing with you!” She turned back to me. “So how do you like it here so far?”

I answered with a smile, “It’s paradise compared to the Zones and Battery City.”

Ronnie smiled back. “It _is_ pretty neat out here. After being out in the Zones for a while, you really do appreciate the little haven we have here.”

“You’ve been out in the Zones?” I asked her.

She shrugged. “I’ve done my fair share of fighting against Dracs to help out some friends that come through. It gets harder to leave each time.”

I nodded. “No kidding. I’d never want to leave this place…”

“My little brother over here thinks it’s the greatest thing in the world to be out in the Zones. He wants to be a Killjoy so bad…”

“Yeah, he’s mentioned it,” I said with a giggle.

“He’s even got that little lightning bolt to make him feel more like the Fabulous Killjoys. You know, how they wear masks sometimes.”

Caelan had his arms folded across his chest. “It’s called warpaint…”

“Little does he know how much of a living hell it is to be out in the Zones for weeks at a time,” Ronnie continued while giving a disdainful glance at her brother.

“You just wait until I turn 18, Ronnie. Not you, Mom, or Dad will be able to stop me from going then…” Caelan told his sister.

Ronnie sighed. “When will you learn?”

“Aw, give him a break. He’s still a kid,” I told Ronnie while smiling at Caelan.

“Who are you to call me a kid? I’ll be 18 in five months. An adult! How old are you, anyway?” Caelan lashed back at me with a twitch of his eyebrows.

I laughed. “I’m 19.”

Caelan’s eyebrows shot up. “You’re 19?”

“Yeah, about two years older than you, kid,” I replied with a smile.

“Wow, you look younger!” Ronnie told me. “We haven’t had people around your age come in a while. I’m 22. There’s a few other girls around the same age here. You want to meet them?”

“Yeah,” I said before Ronnie led me to meet her friends. Caelan tagged along without much enthusiasm.

It was minutes and minutes filled with questioning once I met all of Ronnie’s friends. We were on the second floor in one of the meeting areas. There were about a dozen of them all sitting around me, eager to learn about my stories—mostly the ones concerning the Fabulous Killjoys.

It was all fine when I was just telling them about how the guys found me, when I killed my first Dracs with Frank’s help, how Gerard and I rescued the other guys from the prison… But then it suddenly turned into a discussion about which Killjoy was their favorite.

“Party Poison, hands down!” a girl exclaimed. “Have you seen that hair? I caught a glimpse of him when they came in this morning…” She made a wistful sigh.

“Party Poison is good looking and all, but wow, have you seen Fun Ghoul? All those tattoos and that dark hair… He’s so dreamy,” another girl said.

“I personally like Jet Star the best. He’s so tall, and has such beautiful hair…” another girl added.

“But what about Kobra Kid? He just seems so mysterious,” yet another girl remarked.

“All you girls care about is looks!” one of the few guys in the room said with a shake of his head.

“Well, what else are we supposed to choose our favorites on? It’s not like we know them,” one of the girls replied.

“But Stellar does. So tell us, who’s your favorite?” another girl asked me.

I breathed out a laugh, looking down. “I don’t have a favorite…”

“Oh, come on… You have to have a favorite!”

“They’re all great, amazing guys. I can’t choose,” I said with a bemused look.

“You guys, leave her alone!” Ronnie told them with a laugh. “Can’t you see how uncomfortable she is?”

I scratched my head in embarrassment. “It’s okay.”

“Oh, alright…” one of the girls remarked.

“If you don’t mind me asking, how is it that you guys know so much about them if you’ve never met them?” I addressed to the group.

“Well, we hear stories all the time. I’ve met them on a few occasions,” Ronnie told me.

“You treat ‘em like rock stars, though,” I said with a laugh.

“Well, in this kind of world, they _are_ rock stars. The only kind we got,” one of the girls answered.

I nodded my head in understanding. But it was funny to think about them as rock stars, since they’re just normal, geeky, cool guys.

“You know, I think it’s about time that I took you to my mom’s office. I think it’s been like two hours now,” Caelan said as he stood up.

There was a unanimous “aw” from everyone in the room.

I giggled as I stood up. “Don’t worry. I’ll be living here from now on, so you’ll have plenty of time to hear more stories,” I said with a smile.

Caelan took me to the watch tower made of white brick. Luckily, there was a small elevator that we could take that led up to the office. Once the doors opened, there was a curved hallway with a door opposite of us.

Caelan knocked on the door three times.

“Who is it?” I could hear Flora say from behind it.

“Caelan. I brought Stellar here, since I thought you guys might have been done talking.”

I heard murmurs behind the door before it opened. It was Axel that opened the door. “Come in. I think we’ve talked enough, huh?”

Caelan and I walked in to see the guys and Flora set up in the office. Gerard and Ray were sitting in chairs while Frank and Mikey had been leaning against the wall. Flora was sitting atop her own chair opposite the guys. The room was musty, and there were screens all over one wall, with a beige desk comprised of a lot of buttons.

“There’s nothing else we can do to change your minds?” Flora asked.

“Sorry,” Gerard answered with a smile.

Flora sighed. “Well, I must say I tried my best. You boys just better be careful.” She stood up, stretching out her arms.

“We’ll also get in touch with Dr. D in case you guys need backup. I heard he’s been getting real close to Battery City these last few days,” Axel told them.

“What time is it?” Flora muttered as she looked up to a clock that was on the top of one of the walls. “Caelan, get your sister and start preparing for lunch. Damn it, I didn’t realize how much time had passed since we’ve been up here.”

“Alright,” Caelan replied before he took a ring of keys from Flora and turned to leave the office.

“How are you doin’ here?” Flora asked as she lightly placed a hand on my arm.

“I’m doing great!” I answered with a smile.

She smiled back. “Good. I’m afraid I’ll have to finish a tour of Sweetwater later.”

“That’s fine,” I answered.

“Hey!” Gerard called out as he stood up from his chair. All of the guys had started walking toward me.

“Hey, guys,” I answered with a smile. It was good to finally see them again.

“Were you able to survive without us for two hours?” Gerard joked.

“Yeah, I barely made it,” I replied.

They all laughed.

“So you guys know what you’re doing?” I asked them.

Mikey shrugged and nodded his head up and down.

“We have a pretty good plan,” Frank answered with a nod also. He had his sunglasses tucked into his shirt again.

“We’re ready,” Gerard told me with a bright look in his eyes.

“Yeah. We’re gonna make Battery City our bitch!” Ray excitedly tooted.

I laughed.

“Don’t get too cocky now…” Flora muttered.

“It’s called confidence,” Gerard replied.

“Hey, I believe in you guys,” Axel remarked with a smirk.

“Thanks, man,” Frank told him.

We all walked out of the office and got down the elevator, exiting out into a dusty, hot field of dirt. Then we started walking toward the cars.

“So what did you do while we were gone?” Mikey asked me.

“Caelan showed me around the rest of the farm and then I met his sister and her friends,” I answered.

“Were they nice?” Ray asked me with a smile.

“Yeah, I guess. They wouldn’t stop asking me about you guys, though,” I said with a laugh.

“What kind of things did they ask about?” Ray asked.

“Oh, well…mostly about what it was like to fight with you guys, what you guys were like. It’s like you guys are freakin’ rock stars to them. _I_ never even heard of you before I met you…” I started musing out loud.

“Well, I mean, word gets out about the things that we do. I guess in that way, we become kind of infamous,” Gerard replied.

“Unfortunately,” Flora muttered.

“Yeah, but no one asks us for autographs or anything. We’re not that big,” Mikey added with a wheezy little laugh.

I smiled at that, because I’d beg to differ. I wouldn’t be surprised if some of the girls here wanted to walk away with a lock of their hair.

It was at that moment, that we finally got to the Trans-Am. Guess it was time to say bye for real.

“So you’re good here?” Frank asked as he turned to me.

“I guess so…” I replied while putting my hands in my back pockets. “It’s really the nicest place I’ve been to since I left Battery City. And the people are nice enough.”

“Well then, I guess we’ll be on our way,” he replied as he patted my shoulder with a smile.

He turned to the others as he walked up to the passenger door of the Trans-Am saying, “We should go now. That way we’ll get there before it gets dark.”

“Already?” Axel asked.

“I’m afraid so,” Gerard told him with a downward look. “Grace has been waiting long enough.”

“Surely, you can’t be headed to Battery City _now_ ,” Flora commented with her arms crossed. “It’s dangerous as hell to be out in broad daylight in SCARECROW territory.”

Gerard smiled uncomfortably and protested, “We know how dangerous it is, but day or night, we’re gonna run into trouble on this mission. The sooner we get there, the better.”

“But when’s the last time y’all had a good meal?” Flora added.

Ray opened his mouth to speak before he was cut off by Flora. “And I ain’t talkin’ about the junk you scavenge out there. Let us at least treat you to a healthy meal to gather your strength.”

“Fine,” Gerard answered. “But we’re leaving _after_.”

“Come on, then,” Flora said with a smile as she beckoned us to follow. Gerard, Ray, and Mikey started walking after them through the dirt.

Frank took his hand off the roof of the Trans-Am and started to follow. I put a hand on his arm and stopped him.

“You were going to leave without saying bye, weren’t you?” I told Frank.

“What? What makes you say that?” he questioned.

“Um, how about the fact that as soon as you decided to go, you practically rushed to get inside the car!” I answered.

“I told you, it’s not goodbye. We’ll see you again. Why are you getting so worked up about it, anyway?” Frank told me with a glare.

“Because we’re friends—I don’t want you to leave without saying bye…” Shit, I feel a lump in my throat.

“This whole day has been one long, extended goodbye,” Frank argued. “If you hadn’t said anything to Flora when she said she didn’t want us here, we would have been gone already!”

“So you’re _mad_ at me for making you stay here,” I said with a scoff.

“No, I’m not fucking mad! I’m just saying we’ve had all this extra time together instead of just leaving right away, so… what more do you want?”

“You know what? Maybe you _should_ leave now,” I said with a sigh. “You obviously don’t care about saying goodbye. Go and get Gerard and the others. I’m sure they feel the same way.”

“Fucking hell…” Frank exhaled. “ _This_ is why I didn’t want to say goodbye!” He took out a cigarette into his mouth and started lighting it.

“So you finally admit it,” I remarked. I clapped my hands. “That’s great, Frank.”

He quickly took the cigarette from his lips and breathed out smoke from the side of his mouth. “Yeah, great! I said what you wanted me to say!”

“This isn’t about what I want you to say—“

“Yes it is! You want me to give you some sappy goodbye speech before we leave because you think it’s the last time you’ll see us and I think that’s bullshit!” He took another drag from his cigarette.

“It’s bullshit?” I asked while cradling my arms across my chest.

“Yes! It’s bullshit! I’m sorry I can’t be who you want me to be, but the last time I checked, I didn’t have to! I’m not obligated to do  _anything_ for you.”

I didn’t know what to say to that. He had never looked at me with so much anger in his eyes.

“Is everything okay over here?” It was Gerard, walking back toward us.

“It’s fine,” I answered. I tried to subtly wipe the tear that was forming at the corner of my right eye while I pushed my hair from my face.

Frank walked around me to start catching up with the other guys.

“Come on, Leya,” Gerard told me with a concerned smile as he put an arm around my shoulder.

Fuck. What did I just do?


	19. Chapter 19

Gerard and I stayed at the back of the group, following Flora, Axel, and the rest of the guys across the dirt to a small, gray, rectangular building.

Flora stopped before entering into the gray double doors into the building. She started biting her nails as she looked down.

“Shit…” she muttered. “Axel, go back to the watch tower. I completely forgot that I had the shift from 1 to 4 today…”

“What? Why me?!” Axel exclaimed in response with a creased brow.

“Because I said so…” Flora replied with a cold stare. “I was late in getting lunch ready and I can’t ask Caelan to keep watch again. I already made him clean the stables this morning.”

Axel sighed.

“Hey, you know what? I’ll go keep watch,” Frank announced to Flora and Axel with a bright look in his eyes.

“Thanks, Fun, but that’s okay. You’re a guest here—“ Flora started.

“No, it’s fine. I’ll be glad to keep watch,” Frank replied with a smile to her.

Flora looked at him carefully. “You sure about that? I want to make sure you get a good meal in you before you leave.”

“Please, let me,” Frank told her with an equally careful look.

Flora nodded her head and breathed out deeply. “Okay, then. Just keep watch of the monitors and if anything looks funny, just come and tell me or Axel. If worst comes to worst, trigger the alarm system, and we should all be fine.”

Frank nodded his head and turned to leave. Gerard caught him by the arm gently. “Hey, you’re not leaving here without getting a healthy meal in your stomach. Okay?” he told Frank with a steady look.

Frank studied Gerard for a couple seconds before replying, “Yeah, sure.”

He let his eyes wander to the rest of the guys and then they met mine. He immediately looked away with a straight face and continued marching past us in the dirt towards the way we came. He was still smoking his cigarette and took another drag.

“You should be ashamed of yourself, Axel. Making a guest do your work for ya,” Flora jeered at Axel as she elbowed his side softly.

“Hey! I already did four hours today! I’m sorry… I’m just hungry, too,” Axel replied with a guilty look in his eyes.

Flora went up to him and pecked him on the mouth. “I know,” she giggled. “I still love you.”

Axel’s face brightened up.

Flora turned to us and shrugged her shoulders. “It’s not exactly like a cafeteria, so we still have to prepare the food ourselves. Caelan and Ronnie should have started already, though. But this is usually around the time that everyone eats, so we need a bit more help getting meals out. You guys want to help?”

“Yeah, of course,” Gerard answered.

“Follow me, then,” Flora said as she opened the doors.

As they were walking in, I turned back to look at Frank, who hadn’t gone far. A part of me couldn’t help thinking that he volunteered himself to keep watch just so he wouldn’t have to be in the same room as me.

I should have just kept my mouth shut. I’m such an idiot. Of course he doesn’t care about saying goodbye. Why would he? We’ve only known each other a week—the better half of that week spent apart.

And he was right. A part of me expected something more than—

“Hey, you coming?” I looked up to see Gerard looking at me. Everyone else was gone.

“Yeah, sorry. I guess I got distracted,” I said as I started walking toward the open doors.

We were walking side by side as Gerard whispered, “What’s going on between you and Frank?”

My heart jumped. “Nothing.” I didn’t need Gerard to know about this stupid drama.

He lifted a dark eyebrow as he looked at me with a frown. “It sure didn’t look like nothing…”

I sighed. “Don’t worry about it, Gerard. It’s _nothing_.”

I stared into his eyes, with a look that I hope conveyed “I don’t want to talk about it”.

He blinked his eyes but kept his frown. 

“Stellar, you can help Ronnie and Axel in the kitchen. You boys can help me get stuff out from the cabinet,” Flora ordered us.

Inside the building were a couple dozen foldable wooden tables with about six chairs to each table. It was pretty small for the amount of tables in there, but it looked comfortable enough. For now, it was empty.

About a dozen more of the residents came to help, but it stilltook about an hour and a half to get everything ready for lunch. I never thought it would take this long…but apparently, cooking for about 80 people takes a while. The main course was a vegetable stew made with carrots, potatoes, cabbage, and zucchini. There were also bread rolls, pinto beans, and a bit of cheese for everyone—made from the cows and goats, of course.

It was the greatest feast I’d had in about a year.

“Oh my God, this is so good!” Ray said as he took a huge bite of the stew.

Me, Ray, Gerard, and Mikey were sitting at one table by ourselves after we finished cooking lunch. We all had our plates full—but not for long.

“Dude, I don’t even like beans, but I can seriously eat a ton of these,” Mikey said as he took a scoop of them with a piece of his bread roll.

“It’s too bad Frank’s not here to eat,” Gerard remarked with a glance to the side toward me.

What—did he expect me to say something to that? I stayed silent as I took another spoonful of stew.

“We’ll be sure to save him a plate when he gets back from keeping watch!” Ray answered cheerfully.

Mikey laughed. “If there’s enough left, with the way you’re eating…”

“Hey, shut up!” Ray said with a laugh as he elbowed Mikey.

Gerard kept a serious gaze on me.

I wiped my mouth with the small napkin I had. “What?” I asked Gerard—not too politely, either.

“You know what,” Gerard whispered to me.

I momentarily narrowed my eyes. “You should finish eating before your food gets cold.”

He still kept his eyes on me with that slightly angry stare before picking up his spoon and taking a bite of the stew.

“Um… excuse me?” It was a couple of teenage killjoys—one dressed in a white t-shirt with orange shorts and the other dressed in dark jeans with a pink shoulder-less shirt. The one in orange shorts was talking. “Hi.”

She looked like she was shaking, she was so nervous.

Gerard flip-flopped his attitude and flashed a wide smile at the girls. “Hi! What can we do for you?”

“Me and my friend—we just think you guys are super rad and just wanted to meet you…” the girl said with a deep blush on her cheeks.

Mikey and Ray were also smiling.

“Yeah, of course. Hi, I’m Kobra Kid!” Mikey said as he extended a hand. The girl that was talking gingerly took it.

“And I’m Party Poison,” Gerard said as he shook the hand of the other girl.

“I know who you are,” that girl said with a nervous laugh.

They also shook hands with Ray and then went skipping back to their table with their other friends.

I gave the guys a raise of my eyebrows as I took another spoonful of beans into my mouth.

“Just so you know, it doesn’t happen often,” Mikey explained to me with a grin before he bit into his bread roll again.

“Yeah, maybe once every full moon,” Ray added with a shrug.

I smiled back.

Gerard pushed his seat back and said, “I think I’m gonna go find Frank—try to persuade him to come eat instead of keep watch.”

“But you haven’t even finished eating,” I protested.

Gerard stood up and smoothed his pants on the sides. “You guys can take whatever’s left of it. I’m fine.”

“You sure?” Ray asked Gerard with a concerned expression on his brow.

“Yeah,” Gerard replied. He briskly walked off across the floor of the hall.

“Yoink!” Ray said as he took the bread roll Gerard hadn’t finished.

“Way to be a fatass, Ray,” Mikey remarked with a twitch of his left eyebrow.

“Shmmuuut Ummph,” Ray retaliated while he chewed the piece of bread.

I laughed at this. A bright light came into the building as soon as Gerard opened the door to go outside. We resumed eating and not even a minute later, the bright light flashed again. I looked up to see who came in this time, and it was Gerard with Frank by his side.

I guess Frank had got off of watch duty early, then…

“Oh, hey, it’s Frank,” Mikey commented with a small smile.

“Over here!” Ray called as he waved his arms in the air.

Frank looked over and nodded with a smirk. I looked down to spare myself the sight of what would happen if we met eyes again. Shit, this is awkward.

Gerard walked him over to the main counters and stoves so he could get his plate fixed, while the rest of us finished ours.

Damn it…now that I finished my plate, I don’t have anything to distract myself with to keep from making any contact with Frank—ugh, this is ridiculous! Why do I have to avoid him? Just because he’s a little pissed at me?

Mikey and Ray were sitting next to each other, I was sitting opposite Ray, and Gerard had been sitting next to me, opposite Mikey before. Although now I could see Gerard contemplating letting Frank sit next to me, which probably wasn’t a good idea.

Luckily, Frank himself took the seat at the end of the table, next to Mikey, and now next to Gerard as he sat down.

“They let you out early?” Ray asked Frank.

“Yeah. Axel came and told me to eat, so here I am,” Frank answered as he slightly lifted his hands up from the table.

I was looking down at the table, pretending to think about something.

Gerard cleared his throat. “So how was keeping watch?”

“Eh, it was alright. No emergencies, so I didn’t really have much to do,” Frank answered as he started eating.

It was quiet for a few seconds. I wonder if I should say something, but I don’t even know what to say. And it would just be awkward.

I pushed my seat back, keeping my eyes fixed downward.

“I think I’m gonna go find a bathroom,” I announced as I stood up and started walking past Gerard and Frank.

I didn’t want to even look back, so I kept my face and my eyes forward, headed toward those double doors. Flora had shown us where the bathroom was earlier. It was just behind this building around the corner.

Of course, I wasn’t really going to the bathroom. I walked past the end of the building into open dirt. It was hot out right now, but I didn’t care. I walked to the other side of the building and sat down against the wall.

“Even when you finally have a place to stay, you still feel like running away…” I whispered to myself with a laugh.

I sat there for about twenty minutes. Just generally thinking about how much of an idiot I was. That is, until I heard footsteps near me.

“What are you doing over here?” It was Caelan.

I let my jaw slightly hang open as I looked for an answer in my head.

“They were wondering where you were. My mom sent me to look for you,” Caelan resumed without me even answering. He came and sat down next to me. “Is everything okay?”

I smiled. He may be kind of an idiot, but I think he’s a good kid at heart. “I’m fine,” I answered. “Really.”

“You sure? ‘Cause sitting out here in the dirt while your friends are inside doesn’t really make it seem that way,” he said as he looked down at his knees.

I softly laughed at myself. I was acting kind of immature. All because I couldn’t handle being within five feet of Frank.

“I really am okay,” I told Caelan with a smile. “I just needed a bit of fresh air.”

He just nodded while looking at me.

We sat in silence for about half a minute. I noticed that several fluffy clouds were moving over us, creating mini areas of shade across the dirt.

“So, did you like lunch?” Caelan asked me.

I smiled. “Yeah. Best meal I’ve had in a long time!”

Caelan laughed as he moved the hair away from his eyes. “Yeah, I’m glad my dad’s in charge of the cooking.”

“I was surprised that he did more than your mom,” I replied with a laugh.

“Yeah, he’s always been the one with more talent at cooking,” Caelan answered.

I smiled.

“Hey, do you want to go back inside now? I mean–I know if you need air, you can stay here…”

“No, we can go back inside. I’ve had enough fresh air,” I answered.

Caelan and I stood up, wiping the dirt off our pants. We walked back into the dining hall and I could see all of the guys’ eyes on me. I wonder what they had been talking about since I’d left.

“I’ll be over here with my sister and the others. See you later?” Caelan asked with a bright look.

“Yeah, sure,” I replied with a smile.

“Great!” he replied as he smiled to the side, before he waved and walked off.

I took in a deep breath and went back over to the table where Gerard, Mikey, Frank, and Ray still were.

“Are you okay?” Gerard asked as I sat down.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” I answered, hoping he dropped the subject after that.

He just nodded and said, “Well, we’re all done eating now. I think we’re going to start heading out.”

I nodded in response.

“Hey, you think we’d be able to take some of those bread rolls with us?” Ray asked everyone around the table.

Mikey giggled. “Wow, Ray…”

“What?” he asked defensively.

“Hey, leave Ray alone. We should take advantage of the hospitality while we can, right?” Frank added with a grin. At least he didn’t seem to be pissed anymore…

“Whatever, I won’t ask, then!” Ray retorted.

“Ask what?” It was Flora, standing by our table with her hands on her hips.

Ray flushed. “Nothing.”

“Ya’ll wanna take some food with ya on the road?” she asked with a smirk.

“That would be wonderful. Thank you so much,” Gerard told Flora with veneration in his voice and eyes.

“Come on with me to the kitchen, then. I’ll fix you guys a basket,” she said with a wave of her hand.

We all stood up and followed her into the kitchen where we had just cooked lunch, and she took out four small containers, filling them with stew, and included about a dozen bread rolls wrapped up in a green and white cloth. She searched into one of the wooden cabinets, found a large canvas bag and filled it up with all the food.

“Here you boys go,” she said as she handed it to Ray. He took it with great care, as if it were some precious relic.

“Thank you,” Ray responded with a great smile.

“Anytime,” Flora responded. She looked at all of us. “I suppose you’re off for good this time?”

The guys nodded.

“Well, just be careful out there. Let me know how it goes.” She turned to me. “I’ll let you have as much time as you need to say goodbye, Stellar. After, you can come back here. We’ll get you sorted with a room and fresh clothes.”

I smiled at this and nodded.

As we walked out of the dining hall, the residents all stood up and gave the Fabulous Killjoys a standing ovation and encouraging cheers. The guys all looked flushed with humility. They really had the support of everyone here.

We walked back to the Trans-Am without much conversation. As we reached it, the guys stopped to stretch, crack any joints, and Ray put the food and his jacket into the backseat.

“Hey, before we leave, I wanted to give you something,” Mikey told me as he walked over to the trunk. “Gee, give me the keys!” he called to his brother.

Gerard tossed the keys over to Mikey, who then turned the key in the trunk of the Trans-Am. He lifted the hatch and started digging around in it.

I kept my eyes focused in curiosity.

“It’s not a ray gun, but if you’re ever in a tight spot, this bad boy will save you,” Mikey told me with a smirk as he held out a colorful rubber glove to me. It was blue with white stars along the wrist section, yellow and black on what looked like…I honestly couldn’t make out what that was, and red stripes along the white of the fingers of the glove.

“What is it?” I asked as I took it in my hands.

“It’s a power glove,” Mikey responded with a smile. “You can stun your enemies by punching the right combination of buttons here.” He pointed to the little buttons on the wrist of the glove, that looked like they belonged to a classic video game controller. There were the usual classic A and B buttons and a 4-directional keypad. But there were also a set of buttons numbered from 0-9. “It sends a jolt of electricity through it, so just make sure you have a hold of whoever or whatever’s trying to get you.”

I smiled as I cradled the glove in my palms. “Wow, Mikey… Thank you.”

“Mmhmm,” Mikey replied with a nod of his head. “I hope you never need it, but just in case.”

I nodded my head in response. “Yeah, of course. Thank you. This is really generous of you!” I was grinning widely as I stuck the glove into my back pocket snugly.

“No problem!” Mikey replied with a smile.

We walked around to meet up with Gerard, Ray, and Frank, who were at the hood of the car.

“You guys better take care of yourselves, okay?” I told them. Gerard and Ray smiled at me.

“Don’t worry. We will,” Gerard answered. “You take care of yourself, too.“

“I will,” I answered with a smile.

I looked toward Frank, who kept a dark look toward the ground.

“Don’t miss us too much. We’ll be back before you know it,” Ray told me with another wide smile.

“Yeah, we’ll meet again. You can count on that,” Mikey chimed in.

Frank was still silent, and we all looked toward him. He was tapping his foot the entire time, looking down. He looked up at me with a straight face and exhaled.

“You already know how I feel about this,” he bitterly said as he crossed his arms.

“Frank…” Gerard started with a glare as he turned toward him. I looked to the side, feeling awkward.

Frank raised his hands up and started backing away from Gerard. “No, Gee—just let it go. We should have left hours ago. Weren’t you the one that kept complaining how Grace has been waiting long enough?”

“You can spare a minute to say goodbye…” Gerard gritted through his teeth as he stared at Frank.

Frank scoffed. “Spare a minute? As if I haven’t already spared like 5 hours of my time here…”

Ugh. This is just getting worse.

Gerard kept a glare on Frank as he walked up to him, hands clenched at his sides. “Look, whatever’s going on, can you just get over it and start acting decent and say goodbye to Leya? You owe her at least that much.”

Frank looked over at me and then shook his head. “I don’t _owe_ _anyone_ _anything_. Fuck, I already went through this today…” He placed a palm over his face in aggravation.

I cleared my throat. “He doesn’t have to say goodbye if he doesn’t want to,” I directed to Gerard.

“Of course he does,” Gerard replied.

“No, he doesn’t,” I retaliated with a shake of my head. I looked toward Frank, who was fuming as he looked down at the ground. “I’m sorry.”

Frank looked up at me with a skeptical glance.

“I’m sorry I made the mistake of thinking you’d care about leaving. That was kind of naïve of me, right? After all, I only met you guys like a week ago. So why would it be a big deal?”

I turned my head to hide the tears that started escaping the edges of my eyes. “This really has been the best week of my life in years. I’m really glad to have met you all, even if we might not be able to see each other again. Thank you for everything.” With that, I turned and started walking, letting the tears fall out now.

“Leya, wait—“ Mikey and Ray started taking steps toward me.

But I didn’t stop. I walked nearly 300 feet toward the buildings without looking back. However, I could hear dirt crunching from not too far behind me.

“Leya!” I turned to see Frank jogging toward me.

He was out of breath by the time he got in front of me, pushing the dark, tangled hair out of his eyes.

“Will you just hold on?” he breathed out.

“Why?” I said, quickly trying to wipe the tears off my face, even though my rosy, sniffling nose is probably a dead giveaway that I’d been bawling.

“Because… I don’t want to leave it like this,” he told me with an intent look. He had his head bent down to make sure he was looking me straight in the eyes. He didn’t look mad anymore.

I closed my eyes and sighed. “What could you possibly have to say to me now?”

Frank tilted his head. “You seriously think that I don’t care about leaving you here?”

I looked to the side and shrugged. “Well…you got all pissed off and you didn’t want to say bye or talk to me, so yeah.”

Frank sighed. “Well, yeah, you pissed me off. But that doesn’t mean I don’t care.”

“Then what’s the problem?” I asked as I crossed my arms.

“Well, for one, I told you it’s not goodbye. And two, you’re the one that freaked out about me not saying bye in the first place. I should be the one asking you what’s the problem!”

I crossed my arms and looked down. I didn’t know how to explain myself without sounding pathetic.

“I really fucking hate it when anyone tries to make me do something I don’t want to do,” Frank continued as he crossed his arms. “And to hear you get all upset at me because I didn’t do something I didn’t want to—I mean, who do you think you are? You made it seem as if I was _supposed_ to give you some sappy goodbye. And then you got all emotional about it—“

“Look, I get it! I’m sorry!” I breathed out as I looked into his eyes. “I just ruin everything, don’t I?”

“Hey, don’t feel like that…” he said as he uncrossed his arms.

“Why? It’s true. I’m the one with the problem. You’re just being yourself…” I said with a shrug.

“Hey, I don’t want to leave you like this. I don’t want you feeling bad about anything.”

“I don’t need you to look after me anymore, Frank,” I replied. “I was perfectly capable of taking care of myself for months before I met you and I’m perfectly capable of doing that now.”

Frank sharply breathed out. “You know, forget about it! Sorry I tried to make things right before I left. Have a nice fucking life, Leya.”

He turned around and quickly stalked off toward the car lot.

Maybe I should go after him.

But what more can I say?

What more damage can I do?

I stood in that same spot in the dirt for ten seconds before I made the stupid decision to call him back.

"Fr–”

*WEEEEEEEEEEEOOOO*

A siren? The sound reverberated in my chest, that’s how loud it was. What the hell was happening?!

I looked toward the watch tower that was to my left just about 50 feet away. The red light near its top was flashing and the few residents that were outside ran indoors to the dormitory.

I saw a flash of pink go by across the dirt and noticed Flora sprinting toward the watch tower.

Shit, what do I do? What about the guys—what were they going to do?

I looked back to see Frank in the distance. He was about 100 feet away from me, frozen in his spot, turned toward the tower as well. Running behind him were Gerard, Mikey, and Ray. They stopped as soon as they caught up with Frank, and I could see Gerard pointing toward the watch tower.

I heard a loud sound, like the crumbling of rocks, that came from the concrete wall. I walked a little closer to see what was going on and saw smoke rising from the other side of the wall.

*BOOM*

Again, the loud cracking sound, but this time I saw fire and smoke.

“Oh no…” I whispered out.

I turned and started jogging toward the watch tower. If I can figure out what’s going on from Flora and Axel, maybe we can all help!

I was just near the door to the watch tower when I heard this strange whistling noise.

“Leya!” I heard someone yell.

*BOOM*

I fell down hard onto the dirt, facedown. It felt like every muscle in my body had become heavier, and it was so hard to breathe. My ears were ringing and my heart felt like it was paralyzed. I looked up and I could only see fire. The same bright burst of flames I saw just over a week ago.

I couldn’t speak. I couldn’t move. All I could do was stare at the orange flames coming off of the pieces of brick that must have come out from the blast. I was hot and everything felt heavy. It was just like the raid at the hideout all over again…

“Leya!” I heard my voice called again, but I could barely hear it now.

“Shit, please tell me you’re alive,” I felt someone grab my right arm and turn me over so I was lying on my back now. That seemed to make breathing a bit easier. My neck was extended back all the way, and I tried to breathe in any air I could get while the bright sun blinded my eyes.

“Come on, help me get her up,” I could finally recognize as Frank’s voice. I felt two hands reach under my shoulders as I was hauled up, my arms resting across two different shoulders.

I looked over to my right to see Frank, who was holding my right arm with his hand around my wrist. To my left was Gerard, who had a hand around my waist. They were walking fast, and my heavy, weary legs almost couldn’t keep up.

I was gasping in and out for air through my lungs, which still felt paralyzed. I was shaking. Is this what a panic attack felt like?!

“Are you okay?” Frank asked. He looked genuinely worried.

“I’m sorry, Frank,” I breathed out as I looked up at him through my tangle of hair. “You know, for before. I’m so sorry!”

“Shut the fuck up,” he said with an exhaling laugh. “None of that shit matters anymore, okay?”

“We have to move to safer ground,” I could hear Gerard frantically say. I saw Mikey and Ray walking with us now. They both looked tense.

“What happened?” I gasped out.

No one answered me for a few seconds.

“What happened?!” I repeated as I tightened my grip on both Gerard and Frank’s shoulders.

“Korse is here,” Gerard responded without turning to me.

I felt everything go cold within me again.


	20. Chapter 20

“Shouldn’t we help Flora and Axel?! They’re in the tower!” I said once the guys stopped. I was sweating so much, but I was also cold.

“There’s not really much we can do,” Gerard replied. “That grenade that burst near the tower caused the bricks to collapse over the entrance. We can’t get in.”

I shot a look back toward the tower. Indeed, the bottom of the tower was crumbling. “Flora and Axel! Is the tower going to—“ I started.

“The tower’s fine! The steel core will be able to hold it up,” Ray assured me with a comforting look.

“Oh,” I said, trying to slow down my heart rate.

“We’re going to have to figure out a way to open that gate without Flora and Axel,” Mikey directed toward Gerard as he started pushing his jacket sleeves up to his elbows.

“There has to be a way, other than through the main office control…” Gerard muttered.

“There’s probably a manual control on the gate itself,” Frank added.

“Wait,” I interrupted. “You guys said that Korse was here. How do you know?” I asked.

“He announced it. He’s just outside the wall—which is being destroyed. The grenades were a warning,” Gerard told me as he pushed a few red strands out of his eyes.

I gulped. “A warning?”

Gerard held a hard gaze toward the wall. “If we don’t give ourselves up, they’re going to blow up every building inside this place.”

“But they can’t do that! I thought that this was safe—what with the iron wall and all that—“ I protested.

“They have launchers,” Ray cut in. He had his arms crossed as he glared toward the smoking concrete wall. “I’m guessing they’re using military equipment now, which means they don’t even have to get past that wall to do their fighting. And judging from that blast that almost took you out, they’re going to be able to do a bit of damage.”

I blinked in disbelief.

“Which is why we have to get out there and fight to stop him from destroying this place,” Gerard remarked as he tightened the gloves on his hands.

“You—You can’t be serious!” I looked over at the rest of the guys. They all had straight faces.

“No, Gee’s right. We’re the ones that brought this upon Sweetwater. It’s our responsibility to protect it now,” Frank told me.

The siren stopped. “What will it be, Killjoys? Do we have to blow this place down or are you going to cooperate?” I heard a calm male voice announce from what sounded like a megaphone.

“Eat shit, Korse!” was the retort that broadcasted across Sweetwater.

All of the guys were looking over at the wall with tense expressions on their faces.

“Come on, guys,” Gerard said as he started walking forward. Frank, Ray, and Mikey started following.

I didn’t know whether to follow them or not.

“Hold on, there!”

I turned around to see the graying, muscular man who had called out. He was backed by about twenty other men and women who all had ray guns and other weapons on hand.

Gerard and the others turned around, looks of surprise on each of their faces.

“What are you guys doing?” Gerard asked with a bent eyebrow.

“No one’s ever been able to take down Sweetwater. We’re not gonna let a few little baby bombs scare us,” the same man replied as he gripped his ray gun, that looked like an upgraded rifle version of what the guys had.

“Snake’s right,” a blonde woman added. “We’re not backing down without a fight. So you boys just stay put.”

Gerard put a hand through his hair. “Guys, I appreciate this, but we’re the ones they want. I’m not gonna let Sweetwater get blasted on our account.”

“Well, that’s too bad,” another man said. “’Cause I’ve really been itchin’ for a fight. Been too long since I dusted any Dracs.”

“Really…” Frank started with a stare, “we can handle this. It’s the least we can do in gratitude for the shelter you guys have given us.”

“Are you deaf, son?!” the first older man barked out. Frank’s eyes widened in response. “None of you are getting out of this place until those goddamn Dracs and that goddamn bald-headed asshole are dusted! I don’t want to hear another word!”

“Okay…” Frank said in a subdued tone. Ray cracked an awkward smile at this.

Gerard crossed his arms. “So what’s your plan of action?”

Snake grunted, “That building closest to the entrance has gun turrets stationed on the roof with a great vantage point for long range shooting. We’ll need to get up there to win this battle. If you don’t have any objection to it, let’s go!”

The group quickly started moving across the dirt toward the direction of the building that was just on the other side of the wall. I followed as the guys started walking.

“And where do you think you’re going?” Gerard said as he spun around to stop me in my tracks with a palm on my right shoulder.

“Where do you think?” I asked with an upward stare.

“You’re not coming with us, Leya,” Gerard told me with a stern look.

I scoffed. “Since when do I have to do what you say?” Gerard’s eyes flashed in anger at that.

“You! Girl!” It was that same guy, Snake, addressing me. “You don’t have a weapon. Stay here.”

“But—“ I protested.

“If you want to be useful, evacuate the dining commons and the dormitory. Make sure everyone is out of these buildings and over at the farm grounds,” Snake added with an intense dark stare at me.

Well, that was an important thing to do, now that I thought about it…

“Ugh, fine,” I said. I looked at Gerard, Ray, Mikey, and Frank. “Be careful.”

“Don’t worry about us. It’ll all be over before you know it,” Mikey told me with a thumb-up gesture.

I smiled at this.

“Alright, gents and ladies! No more time to waste! Let’s get moving!” Snake barked out before he started marching ahead.

I decided to waste no time and ran over to the dormitory. Once I opened the doors and got inside, I could see a bunch of people staring out from behind the windows.

“You all have to evacuate, now!” I sternly ordered to the residents.

“What’s going on?” an elderly woman asked me.

“Korse is here,” I answered with a sigh.

A murmur rose within the group, increasingly getting louder and more frantic.

“Look, everyone needs to remain calm and just follow me! You’re in danger by staying inside this building, so you need to evacuate to the farm grounds now!” I ordered.

The murmuring got lowered to a whisper as people started moving about. I recognized one of the girls from earlier within the group. She was tan, had black hair braided and resting on her left shoulder, and I remembered she was the one who said she liked Ray the best out of the Fabulous Killjoys. But I couldn’t remember her name.

“Hey, you,” I said as I walked up to her.

“Hey, Stellar,” she told me with a smile, although I could tell she was nervous.

“I’m sorry, what’s your name again?” I asked her.

“Oh, it’s okay. It’s Angie.”

I smiled. “Angie, do you think you can make sure that everyone on this floor gets out? I still need to make sure that everyone evacuates from each floor.”

“No problem, Stellar!” Angie answered.

“Thank you so much,” I said as I sighed in relief. “And Angie?”

“Yes?” she replied in question with her dark eyes widened.

“Everything’s going to be okay. You guys will be safe out at the farm.”

Angie smiled in response as she started organizing the group of about 20 on this first floor. I made my way to the stairwell and ran up to the second floor.

I went door to door, seeing who was still there, rounding up kids and adults alike, searching every corner and even checking the third floor. About 30 people were then following me through the dormitory as I walked back down the stairwell to the first floor.

“Okay, everyone, stay with me and Angie!” I announced as my group met up with hers. The group of nearly 50 people was all bunched together. It was hardly organized, but it was the best we were going to do here.

Now that we were outside, I could hear the firefight going on at the border. I tried not to focus on it.

“Is this everyone from the first floor?” I asked Angie.

“Yeah, this is everyone. But…” she paused.

“What is it?”

“When the siren went off, there were still a lot of people in the dining commons. There might even be people in the Spiritual Center.”

“Spiritual Center?” I repeated in confusion.

“Yeah, it’s a place where people go to pray or whatever. It’s the last building past the dining commons, right next to where the energy troughs are,” Angie answered.

I nodded. “I’ll go search the dining commons and this spiritual center. Can you get everyone to the farm on your own?”

“Yeah, no problem!” Angie answered with a smile.

“Thanks, you’re the best!” I answered with a grin.

“Be careful, Stellar,” Angie replied to me. I nodded as I went running back toward the dining commons.

It was odd running out here in the dirt with no one around. The flames had died around the watch tower—that much I could see. It was quiet and it felt isolated. But I soon heard the sound of the concrete wall crumbling and I could see flashes of bright light reflecting against the darkening, scattered clouds in the sky.

I averted my eyes and kept running toward the dining commons. Just as Angie had noted, there were still people in here.

“You guys have to get out of here!” I yelled. “We have to evacuate to the farm grounds.”

“Why?” a man in a puffy blue vest asked. He had his arms crossed as he glared at me.

“Korse is threatening to blow up all the buildings in Sweetwater. You’re not safe here. Now, no arguments—I need everyone to get up and get out of here calmly,” I explained.

At that, most of the residents started moving. I looked around and noticed Ronnie standing up with her arms crossed.

I walked up to her. “Ronnie, why are you still here?” I asked.

“I had to stay with Caelan because that idiot didn’t want to get out of here, and as much as I hate to admit it, I’m not strong enough to push him around. And now I can’t find him,” she told me with a stressed brow.

“You don’t think he could have…” I started while meeting Ronnie’s green eyes. I didn’t even need to finish my sentence to know that we’d been thinking the exact same thing: Caelan was probably going to try and fight with the Killjoys.

Ronnie sighed. “I’m going to go look for my brother. You get these people to safety.”

She briskly walked out of the entrance doors to the dining commons. I really hoped her brother wouldn’t do anything stupid…

I turned to the group of 15 residents before me. “Alright! Everyone just needs to follow me!”

Luckily, no one really complained much. I walked all the residents to the farm grounds, where Angie and the rest of the residents were standing around. They all looked anxious, and it was no wonder why; I could see smoke coming from the wall. Whether it was from our side or the other side, I couldn’t tell.

“You think they’ll be able to hold them off?” I heard a man ask.

“Of course they will,” was one reply.

“I don’t know… Seems like SCARECROW has military power now. This isn’t going to end as quickly as the previous battles,” another man remarked.

I felt a hand nudge my shoulder. It was Angie.

“One of the little girls here was looking for her mom. Was that everyone in the group you brought?” she asked me as she pointed toward the 15 people I had led here.

“Yeah, that was…” I answered. “Why do you ask?”

At that point, a small girl with straight, long blonde hair came running up to Angie, asking, “Is mommy here?!”

Angie bit her lip. “I don’t think she was in the dining commons, Ava.”

The small girl’s eyes immediately started watering.

“It’s okay! I’m sure your mom is around here somewhere. Do you know anywhere else she would be?”

Ava shook her head while tucking her lip. It was breaking my heart looking at this little girl. Then it struck me that I had forgotten to check the Spiritual Center, or whatever it was called.

“Hold on, I’m going to look for her mother. What’s her name?” I asked Angie.

“Kathy. She’s blonde, just like Ava. Good luck,” Angie told me.

I nodded my head.

“Don’t worry, my friend Stellar here is going to look for your mommy again,” I could hear Angie tell a sniffling Ava.

This was kind of turning into a mess, with people going missing…

Once I got past the dormitory, I could hear someone faintly yelling. I turned to try and hear the sound, when I realized it was coming from inside the building. I rushed into the dormitory, and I could hear the yelling again.

“Ava!”

It must have been that little girl’s mom.

“Ava!” I heard the yelling again as I saw a woman walking through the hallway between the first floor rooms.

“Are you Ava’s mother?!” I called out. The woman spun around quickly looking toward me. She had blonde hair that reached halfway down her back, and she was wearing a loose, red-orange flower-print dress.

“You know where my daughter is?!” she frantically asked me.

“Yeah, she’s with the rest of the residents at the farm grounds. Everyone is supposed to evacuate there,” I told her.

The woman ran a hand through her bangs, sighing, “Oh, thank God…”

I made a small smile and told her, “We have to go. It’s safer for you to be out there with everyone else, and more importantly, with your daughter.”

“Yes, of course!” she said before walking in my direction. “I had left Ava to be taken care of by one of my friends while I went to go pray and when the siren went off, I just didn’t know what to do—I didn’t mean to leave her!” She had tears streaming down her face.

“It’s okay! I’m sure Ava will just be glad to see you again,” I told her as we got outside of the building.

A bright streak went through the air at that moment, trailed by red smoke. It was sailing over the wall. That meant it was going to land here—someone could get hurt—

The grenade that had launched suddenly split off into 3 different directions, one of them directly headed at that building next to the wall!

I could hear the screams faintly from where I was, as that one grenade burst on the top of the roof, leaving a flurry of sparks and white flames.

Subsequently, a grenade went off on the watch tower again and another in the wide open space between it and the rest of the buildings. Clouds of dust went up everywhere in front of me and Kathy.

“Get back inside!” I yelled as I pushed her back inside the doorway while I closed the door on us.

Sand rattled against the windows and the walls as if there were some sort of dust devil going around outside.

“What’s going on?” Kathy anxiously asked me.

I could hear a crackle and the sound of a microphone waning out through the speakers placed inside this building.

I looked out of the nearest window, waiting for the dust to clear. Damn it, I have to get out there!

“Kathy, come with me. We have to get to safety!” I pulled Kathy with me by her wrist. She was partially frozen in shock so she let me pull her without a struggle.

I ran a relatively short distance toward the farm grounds before stopping.

“Okay, you can join everyone in the farm. Ava will be there with Angie. You do know who Angie is, right?” I asked.

Kathy nodded her head quickly.

“Okay, great!” I said before I turned around.

“Wait, where are you going?” Kathy asked me.

“I have to help!” I said before I started running back toward the buildings. I hadn’t even begun to let it register in my head that the Killjoys that were fighting may have been seriously hurt or…worse.

As I approached the watch tower, I could see two figures near the bottom. I came running closer, and I could see that it was Ronnie—she was kneeling over someone—oh no. It was Caelan.

I walked up close and I could see that Caelan was unconscious, blood staining his left temple and part of his forehead. Ronnie had his head cradled in her lap.

“He was trying to get inside to help Mom and Dad,” Ronnie choked out through sobs. “And that’s when the grenade hit, and he was too close—a brick must have fallen and hit him. I don’t know what to do!”

I didn’t know what to do, either. To see a confident person like Ronnie broken down…

I looked at Caelan again, and I could see his chest slowly heaving. He must not be dead.

“But…he’s still alive, right?” I asked Ronnie.

She looked down, wiping the tears from her eyes, and felt her brother’s throat for a pulse. “Yeah, he’s still alive,” she sobbed.

“You need to get him somewhere safe. You need to be somewhere safe, too. There’s no telling when they’re going to send in more grenades here…” I told Ronnie.

“They’re going to destroy our home,” Ronnie whispered out.

I knelt down in the dirt to meet Ronnie at eye level. “Hey, don’t say that. They haven’t succeeded yet, and they won’t.”

Ronnie nodded at me while wiping her tears with the back of her hand.

“Get out of the way!!!” the deep-voiced holler came from above. Ronnie and I looked up to see Axel sticking his head out from what looked like a hole in the wall created by the blast.

“Dad!” Ronnie called out with a smile.

“Hey sweetie! I’m comin’ down there with a sledgehammer! That’s the only way your mother and I are getting out of this place. So ya’ll better get on out of there by the time we get there.

“Dad, Caelan—“ Ronnie started.

“I know. We’ll sort this out, Ronnie,” he answered her.

I helped Ronnie pick up Caelan as we moved ourselves about 20 feet from the building. In just a minute, the wall where we once kneeled next to started to crumble into itself.

Eventually, we could see Axel barreling out from the white, dusty bricks with sledgehammer in hand. He dropped it to the floor as he went back inside the tower. He came back out with Flora leaning on him—she looked like she hurt her leg a bit.

“Let me see him,” was all Flora said as she broke from Axel and started limping toward us. She came over here pretty fast for having a bum leg, and sank down to her knees next to her son. “Oh, Caelan…” she let out as she stroked his bloodied hair from the side of his face.

Ronnie started sniffling. “I’m so sorry! I couldn’t stop him from running out—I didn’t know this was going to happen—“

“Shh!” her mom told her with a tender look. “This isn’t your fault. This isn’t anyone’s fault—except for Korse.”

I looked up toward the wall. It had been quiet for the last 5 minutes from each side. I wonder what happened…

“I’ve gotta get Caelan into the hospital ward. He shouldn’t be out here. None of you should be out here,” Axel addressed to me and Ronnie.

“What happened to the fighters?” I asked with an intent look.

Axel hesitated. “As of now, Korse is winning the battle. We just don’t have enough firepower to match his.”

“So all the fighting’s been useless?” I asked.

“Well, no, they made a dent in his force, but there’s only so much damage we can do if we can’t get Korse directly…while he has the capacity to destroy these buildings. The watch tower’s practically gone. That last blast messed up with the communication system. And I imagine that blast on the gun turret stations disabled them.”

I looked down for a bit. Then everyone else was quiet.

“Don’t even think about it!” Flora directed at me.

“Think about what?” I asked.

“I see that look in your eye,” she continued as she pointed a finger at me. “It’s the same look those boys get in their eyes when they talk about doing something big. You came here to be safe, Stellar. Don’t you do something stupid to throw that all away.”

I clenched my fists and stood up from the dirt. “Yeah, well, this doesn’t seem like such a safe place to be anymore.”

Before I could be argued against anymore, I started a run toward that building that was next to the wall.

I don’t know what I’m planning on doing, I don’t even know if the guys are okay, but I can’t just sit and do nothing!

The blast appeared to only be isolated to the roof, so hopefully I’ll be able to go inside. This building appeared to have only 3 levels, just like the dormitory. It was gray, and very dull and square. I’m not even sure what this is supposed to be for…

I walked up to the front glass doors and entered. It was empty except for two rows of small lockers along either side of the wide open space of the first floor. What was this?

I walked around aimlessly, my feet echoing in the empty room. I found the stairwell at the left corner of this floor, and decided to open the door to go in. I started walking up the first flight of stairs when I heard footsteps coming from above me. Just as I was about round the corner of the second flight, I literally bumped into Gerard, who looked completely surprised to see me.

“What—What are you doing here?!” the redhead asked as he pushed past me to continue walking down the stairs.

“You guys are okay!” I excitedly exclaimed as I saw Frank, Mikey, and Ray following just behind Gerard. The rest of the fighters were following behind them as well.

“Someone needs to teach you how to keep your priorities in check,” Frank remarked with a small laugh.

“I saw the blast—I was worried—I thought you guys might have—” I started as I started walking back down, too.

“We’re fine…” Gerard told me without looking at me. “But some of our friends got hurt.”

I looked back up to see one man being carried by two other Killjoys. He looked badly burned, with sores all over his arm.

“Whoa!” I exclaimed as I missed a step on the stairs. Luckily, Gerard had grabbed my arm before I could fall over on my face.

He sighed, “You shouldn’t be here.”

“Well, I am,” I retorted. “Besides, you guys are going to need all the help you can get if you want to beat Korse.”

Once we got down to the ground level, Gerard turned to me and said, “No one’s fighting. No one but us, that is.”

“What are you talking about?” I questioned with a creased eyebrow.

Gerard paused as he let the rest of the Killjoy fighters get outside ahead of him through the glass doors. There were 4 wounded in total, but no one dead. Although, a couple of them looked close to death.

Pretty soon, it was just me, Gerard, Frank, Mikey, and Ray left in this building. Now that I got a better look at them, they looked a bit haggard. Especially Gerard.

“We’re deciding to give ourselves up. We don’t want anyone else to get hurt. And the only way that’s going to happen is if we get out first,” Gerard told me with a careful look in his hazel eyes.

I looked down, not answering right away. “Are you going to fight?”

Gerard sighed. “We’ll try and do what we can without getting killed. After all, if we die here, it means that we also let Grace down.

I was quiet again. I couldn’t argue with his decision. If I was in Gerard’s shoes, I’d probably end up doing the same thing.

“Now we just have to figure out how to get that gate opened,” Mikey added as he crossed his arms.

“Flora and Axel got out of the watch tower,” I announced. “If anyone can tell you how to do it, it’s them.”

The guys nodded and we all exited the building. We didn’t walk too far before we met paths with Flora, who was speaking with some of the Killjoys that had fought on the rooftop.

Once we approached them, Flora looked up and shot a dark look at us.

“This is quite a mess we’ve got ourselves in, ain’t it?” she addressed to Gerard as she limped forward.

Gerard rubbed the back of his neck. “I’m really sorry about all of this, Flora—“

“I don’t want to hear it,” Flora interrupted with her index finger up in the air. “It’s not your fault. The only ones to blame here are Korse and his drones.”

Gerard looked down, his eyebrows knitted together.

“Hey,” Flora said as she reached a hand to put on Gerard’s arm. “Quit beating yourself up about this. You’re not a superhero. You can only do so much on your own.”

Gerard sighed. “Tell us how to open the gate.”

Flora’s eyebrows lifted. Her eyes searched Gerard’s face and then scanned over to the rest of us. “No. You’re not giving yourselves up.”

“Flora, we’ve endangered your residents. We brought upon you the very thing you feared the most. The reason that you didn’t even want us here in the first place.”

God, was I starting to feel guilty again for making them stay here…

“Let’s just focus on the here and now, Party. If you boys give yourselves up to Korse, you will die.” Flora was glaring at Gerard now.

“But if we don’t give ourselves up, they’ll continue their barrage on Sweetwater and more people may get hurt or die. It’s not a fair tradeoff.” Gerard stared at Flora with an equally steady glare.

Flora looked down at the dirt as she was considering something in her mind.

“Don’t worry about us. We’re not going down without a fight,” Ray added with a bright look as he put his hands on his hips.

Flora looked up and sighed. “You know I hate to see anyone in trouble. And you know how much I hate giving in to anything…”

“We know,” Gerard answered.

Flora put her hands on her hips. “There are a couple large levers fixed onto the wall. They control the iron door. We can probably get enough people to open it manually. I can’t believe you all are really going through with this…”

“It’s the only thing we can do to save this place,” Ray gently answered with a smile.

Flora nodded. She then turned around. “Turnpike! Gretel! The rest of ya! We’re gonna need your help.” She was referring to the Killjoys that were with her. They still had their ray guns on them, and they looked only slightly scathed from the blast.

“Well, it looks like this might actually be it,” Frank exhaled as he stretched his arms behind his head.

“Don’t say that. We’re getting out of this alive,” Gerard gravely told him.

Frank shrugged and looked over at me. “Hey, take good care of the Trans-Am when we’re gone…”

“Oh, now you want to say your farewells,” I replied with a bent eyebrow.

Frank laughed at me.

“Nah, we’re not saying goodbye!” Ray said as he placed a hand on my shoulder. “Korse is the one that’s going to leave and never come back…”

“In any case, we’re not going down alone,” Mikey added with a stoic look.

I felt uneasy. “I’m going with you,” I told the guys as I crossed my arms.

“What?” Mikey echoed as he looked at me with widened eyes.

“There’s no reason you guys should fight out there on your own when you have so much support here,” I answered.

“No. You’re staying here,” Gerard angrily told me.

“I’m not letting you guys go out there alone!” I argued as I clenched my fists.

“Leya, stay here!” Frank raised his voice at me. “We didn’t go through all that trouble of getting you here just so you could get yourself killed.”

“No, I know that, but—“ Two strong arms wrapped around my chest. “Hey, what the—“ I started.

“I got her. You guys…if you’re going to go, go now. We’ll try and cover you as best as we can.” It was Flora. I was trying to break from her hold so hard, but of course her muscular arms wouldn’t lose their grip.

“We’ll be okay, Leya,” Mikey told me with a crooked raise of his mouth.

I didn’t believe that for a second.

Mikey shrugged his shoulders and went on to crack his neck, arms, and knuckles. Frank started putting on his gloves, and Ray and Gerard were whispering close to each other. And all I could do was be held back by Flora and stare as the guys started walking across the dirt to the iron doors of the entrance.

I really hope this wasn’t the last I saw of them…


	21. Chapter 21

As soon as the iron doors opened, I could see the damage that Korse had done: most of the electric fence in the front was dismantled and much of the concrete wall had crumbled and pieces of it were scattered all over the dirt.

The door slowly moved across the dirt, revealing bit by bit as the guys stood 15 feet behind the border, waiting for their opportunity to cross over.

The iron door made one last loud heave of metal working as it stopped. The border was open. The Fabulous Killjoys stepped forward.

And then I saw him.

A shudder went up my spine as I spotted the pale, bald man, his frilly sleeves underneath that gray coat. This is the man who killed my friends. Who took Grace. Who sent those grenades into Sweetwater and hurt others that were just trying to protect this place.

He was flanked by five Draculoids, with twelve other SCARECROW agents (not counting the ten that were lying around dead) standing around scattered, with guns raised at the ready. I could see four agents stationed at the black SCARECROW unit car with what must have been the two grenade launchers. It took two of the agents just to carry one.

Flora had taken—more like dragged—me down the line of the border that was solely protected by the electrical fence. From here, we could see what would happen without being in the way. However, eleven Killjoys were lying just behind the iron door to back up the guys, and it was only a matter of time before the first move was to be made.

“So you decided to come out and play?” Korse’s voice projected in the empty desert.

Gerard, Ray, Frank, and Mikey stopped as soon as they got several paces in front of Korse and his closest flunkies.

“You’re going to regret fucking with the people of the Sweetwater once we’re done with you,” Gerard sneered as he reached for the ray gun on his lower right thigh.

A Draculoid immediately jumped in front of Korse—and got hit with a barrage of lasers from Gerard and Frank. Ray and Mikey had split off to take out some of the other SCARECROW agents surrounding them. At that moment, the eleven Killjoys providing backup also came out from behind the iron wall and started firing off.

“Execute plan B!” Korse shrieked as he ducked behind the body of the fallen dead Draculoid. Another drone took his place and fired back against Gerard and Frank.

A loud “POP” sound came from the black car. Less than two seconds later, a cloud of dust burst between the backup Killjoy fighters. They were all thrown to the ground. And they didn’t get back up.

“Oh God!” I gasped as Flora still held my arm in a vice-like grip.

Mikey and Ray had stumbled and fallen to their knees from the blast, but they were too far to have been harmed by it—luckily.

At this point, there were eight SCARECROW agents left standing and approaching the guys with guns ready to shoot.

“You went back on the agreement!” Korse announced in a mirthful manner. “How many Killjoys do I have to kill before I can get a compliant response from you buffoons?”

Gerard and Frank quickly whipped their eyes to the fallen Killjoy allies. Even from this distance, I could see the tension draining the hope from their faces.

“Dismantle that wall! No survivors—not after your deception,” Korse coldly stated as he waved his hand in a high-raised flourish.

Gerard rushed Korse, his feet hardly touching the ground as he leaned all his weight on the bald man, forcing him to go down into the dirt. Korse struggled against him, slapping the redhead’s face with an animalistic fervor.

Gerard disregarded the slaps he received and got a hold of Korse’s ray gun, throwing it far to the side. He got in one swing before a couple Draculoids wrested him off of Korse and began to beat at him.

But Frank wouldn’t let that slide. He rushed at the Draculoids, his dark hair whipping in the air behind him as he sent a laser into one of them.

“Fire!” Korse yelled just before another loud POP went off. This time, the concrete wall received damage, and Flora and I had to run out of the way just to make sure no stray debris came our way.

Once the wall stopped crumbling, I quickly walked forward toward the wall again, anxious to see what happened to the guys again.

Gerard, Frank, Ray, and Mikey were joined again, but this time they were surrounded by the remaining SCARECROW agents and Draculoids.

 “If you want to keep your friends alive, I suggest you stop resisting,” Korse said in a matter-of-fact tone.

“That’s enough, Korse!” Gerard growled. He became quiet for a second. “Deal with us on your own. I’m tired of you dragging others into this fight.”

“Oh, look, there’s a few crawling around there… Perhaps we should put them out of their misery!” Korse brightly announced as he gestured his head toward the Draculoids with the launchers.

“Fine!” Gerard announced as he dropped his gun with a clatter to the dirt. He kept his eyes on Korse’s.

Before anyone else could react, the Dracs ran at the four guys. Of course, Ray, Mikey, and Frank resisted while Gerard got held up in a Drac’s grasp.

Frank punched a Drac and wasted no time in quickly pacing toward Korse. He stuck out his gun at the cold, bald man.

“If you kill me, he dies,” Korse responded as he nodded his head toward the Drac that had Gerard; who promptly stuck the barrel of the white ray gun to Gerard’s temple.

Even from this distance, I could see the defeat and frustration in Frank’s eyes as he frowned and slightly lowered his gun as he looked at Gerard. Another Drac roughly yanked Frank’s right arm, causing him to drop his gun. I could see the grimace from Frank’s teeth as the Drac bent his arm behind his back.

“Drop your weapons, guys,” Gerard gasped out in defeat to Ray and Mikey. They slowly dropped their guns as they also got detained.

“Well, this is working out better than I expected,” Korse smirked to himself.

I can’t watch this anymore. I looked over at Flora, searching for an answer, for some kind of sign that would tell me what I should do to fix this.

She looked at me with a wrinkled brow. “I’m sorry, honey, there’s nothing we can do.” Flora crossed her arms as she looked down.

I spotted a ray gun strapped to the side of Flora’s pants. “Yes there is,” I gritted as I stole the ray gun from Flora’s pant holster and started sprinting off toward the entrance.

“Stellar, don’t you dare!” Flora gritted as she took a hold of my wrist.

I tried to pull away. “Let me go!” I retorted.

Flora’s going to be mad at me for this, but she’ll understand in time.

With the ray gun in my hand, I swung it into Flora’s face. She stumbled backwards, grabbing at her nose, looking dizzy.

“I’m sorry!” I quickly whispered out before sprinting toward the wall. Once I got close, I kept myself out of view by crouching as I eyed the scene at hand. Korse was pacing back and forth not too far from the guys.

“Now we can do this the easy way… or I could start blasting off body parts.” I could hear him say. “Either way, you all are coming with me to Battery City. But fret not, you’ll be reunited with your little curly-haired pet—what was her name, Grace?”

“If you’ve harmed Grace at all, I’ll fucking tear you apart limb from limb!” Gerard shrieked out as he struggled against the Drac that held him in a lock from behind.

Korse had started walking up to Gerard, his back turned from me now. All the other agents had their eyes on the scene. This was my chance. I had to go now.

I placed a hand on the cold concrete and hoisted myself over it onto the dirt, not stopping my sprint as I held my gun raised. If I was going to shoot, I couldn’t make any mistakes.

I willed my legs to go faster than they’d ever gone, barely feeling the dirt below my feet as I sped along. I held the ray gun out as I rushed toward Korse. I see him, his pale bald head a target.

But he’s directly in front of the guys… If I miss, I might end up hurting or killing one of them.

Suddenly, the ground in front of my feet was kicked up in dust from lasers coming my way. I stumbled shortly, catching myself.

I’m only a few steps away from Korse!

I looked to my left and shot at the agents that had their guns pointed toward me. Two went down. I evaded the third on my right as I ran up to Korse.

I have to do this… I have to kill him…

Just as I got a few paces behind Korse, he turned around, his dark eyes poring into mine.

I gulped and held my gun tighter, aimed at his chest.

“Too slow,” Korse told me with a smile a millisecond before I felt myself get shoved from the side onto the gravel.

“Grr…” I groaned as I felt myself pinned to the ground by a heavy agent. I didn’t let go of the ray gun and whipped my arms out, flailing against the agent that had tackled me.

I managed to slide out from underneath him and rose up, raising my gun to Korse again. But just as quickly, the agent behind me stuck their gun into my back.

“Wait, don’t dispose of her yet,” Korse said with a calm voice. The barrel of the gun on my back hurt in an annoying way, but I kept my arms extended with my gun pointed at Korse. My heart was racing as I stared at his emotionless, black eyes.

He laughed. “What is this? Come to save the day?”

I swallowed. “You’re not taking my friends.”

Korse peered at me like a hawk examining its dinner. “You… You’re supposed to be dead,” he remarked in a disgusted tone.

I caught my breath. He remembered me!

“My, you are a resilient little thing, aren’t you?” he said with a smile this time. “It’s a shame that your friends weren’t.”

“Burn in hell,” I growled at him.

“Oh, there’s fire in you, too!” As Korse laughed, a few of his Dracs copied.

I quickly looked over at the guys, checking if they were okay. They were all down on their knees in the dirt, with Dracs holding them down. I noticed that the Drac who had Frank had bent his left arm back—it must have been hurting him so much, since his arm wasn’t fully healed yet. The other guys were similarly restrained, their faces red with anger.

“Let them go now!” I yelled at the bald, pale man.

He raised his eyebrows. Then he started to chuckle. “Now why would I do a silly thing like that?”

“Because I will kill you if you don’t,” I responded with a glare.

“Fire away. Let’s see how long you and your precious Fabulous Killjoys last. Go ahead,” Korse told me while gesturing to the guys. The Dracs that were holding them down all had their ray guns ready to fire. And the SCARECROW agent holding me at gunpoint pressed the barrel into my back even more.

“Tsk, tsk,” Korse remarked. “Didn’t think that through all the way, now, did you?”

“Let her go, Korse!” Gerard hollered from his place. “She means nothing to you!”

“Oh, but she means something to you, doesn’t she?” Korse replied with a smirk.

Gerard’s face looked torn as he didn’t deny it. Damn it, Gerard…

I sharply exhaled. “What do you want?!”

“I want peace. I want civility. I want a perfect world. Isn’t that what everyone wants? And these criminals have seen fit to destroy everything we have been working so hard to accomplish.”

“That’s bullshit. There is no such thing as a perfect world! And force-feeding people pills to make them follow your deluded ideas doesn’t make this a peaceful or happy place! Especially if you’re going around killing anyone who decides to stray away from your idea of _perfection_!” I lashed out.

“Naive ramblings of a young rabble rouser. Do you not see that this life you chose, the life you turned Battery City away for, is only going to lead to your untimely demise?”

“The only reason my life would be cut short is because of soulless mercenaries like you! You and your whole organization are the ones going around destroying the beauty of this world! You killed my friends without a second thought! You’ve killed so many people without a thought—“

“Killjoys are not people. They are rebellious threats to the good of mankind.” The response was so automatic, like a robot.

“What are you?!” I exclaimed with a look of horror.

“I am a protector of the new, fragile paradise Better Living Industries has created. I am just carrying out my duty.”

I looked down. “Tell me what you did with Jonah and Susanna.”

“You are referring to Jonah and Susanna Lawrence? I asked them a few questions,” Korse replied.

“What did you do to them?!” I asked again.

“They needed a bit of…reprogramming to cooperate…”

“Reprogramming?” I repeated.

“Yes.” Korse was smiling now. “They are model citizens now. All it took was a little tweaking.”

“Why did you take them?” I growled.

“They had potential.”

“Potential?” I echoed.

“Potential to become better human beings. As all you poor, savage Killjoys do.”

“Then why did you kill Jax, Diamondback, and Sniper? What were they to you?!” I asked as tears were begging to come out.

“They were trash,” was the cold reply. “A waste of atmosphere. As I had previously deemed about you. But it seems that I was merely underestimating your abilities…”

“Then what did you want from me?” I asked. “If I was trash, why did you want to know my name?”

“Ah, yes… I offered you a deal in exchange for your name. I apologize, dear, but the offer does not stand any longer.” Korse shook his head.

“ _Why did you want to know my name_?” I repeated, raising the gun to his eye level.

“I was searching for someone. A young scholar from Battery City was rumored to have gone rogue and become a Killjoy just before it was time for them to enter SCARECROW ACADEMY. As a top pupil, they had great potential to become an asset to SCARECROW.”

“Well, that’s not me!” I lashed out.

“It isn’t? I think that you will find that you are mistaken. Unless the name Krysten Novena does not mean anything to you?”

Shit.

Don’t let him know.

But shit, that means he already knows, huh?!

I didn’t answer and kept my gun raised, even though my arm was starting to feel heavy.

“Because there was a curious incident. March 23rd, 2019. She disappeared. Along with her younger sister, who ironically, was the 3rd top student in her class in the 4th district high school of Battery City. But what was odd about this younger sister was that she never showed up to SCARECROW Academy in the fall of 2018, as was planned.” Korse narrowed his eyes in a coy manner at me.

Try not to let him see through you… But it’s so fucking obvious, isn’t it?!

“All of our young, bright pupils are valuable to SCARECROW. They are the future. They are what tomorrow needs. They are the soldiers of the message we bring to the world. And so when one of the top pupils goes missing, it is a very big deal. However, I digress. Miss Novena was identified by her parents in Battery City just two months ago. They also confirmed that their youngest daughter had also been absent from their home since the Cleanout. Now what can you tell me about that?”

I was sweating so much. Trying not to cry at having heard about Krys and my parents. Trying not to let on that I was scared of this hollow man, that I had fallen into his trap so blindly.

“Why so quiet now?” Korse remarked with a laugh. “What is it you are trying to protect?” He looked to the side. I quickly followed, and saw my friends, down on their knees and restrained by Dracs.

“Do they really mean that much to you, that you would sacrifice your own life to save them?” Korse asked me.

“Yes,” I answered, glaring at his dark eyes.

He laughed haughtily. “But that’s not what you’re protecting, is it? Why did you refuse to tell me your name when I killed your friends?”

“The reason anyone out here does—to protect my identity, to protect the people I care about!”

Korse nodded as he gave me that creepy smile. “Curious thing, that bracelet you have on your wrist.”

I looked toward my wrist, noting the orange beads and the crucifix.

“Krysten had one just like that,” Korse continued. “But _that is_ the one she gave you. Isn’t that right…Leya?”

I couldn’t help the shudder in my heart as he said my name.

“Now, don’t be frightened. As I previously mentioned, you are one of the brightest pupils of your age. As heinous as your decisions have led you to become, you would be a valuable addition to my army. And you are quite the soldier. So much braver in just a matter of two weeks.”

Korse reached out a hand to my face. As soon as I felt his cold hand on my cheek, I couldn’t help it—I punched the guy in the face as hard as I could!

As soon as I did, though, the agent behind me hooked his left arm across my neck and pulled me back. He had the barrel of his gun pointed under my jaw with his right hand.

“Leya!” It was Frank that shouted.

I quickly glanced over to see him struggling against his captor, but to no avail as he slid in the dirt. He was fully down on his stomach now, looking up at me with a grimace.

I quickly held my ray gun back against the agent’s forehead. “I will shoot your face off,” I warned.

I could feel the gun retreat slightly from my neck, but then push harder.

“Don’t believe me?” I grunted. “If you shoot me, I’ll still get you. My finger is one slip away from sending this laser straight through your skull… How lucky do you feel today?”

I heard clapping from my left. It was Korse. He was smiling as he took a white handkerchief from one of his pockets. He wiped the dust from his face and his hands, which got there because he fell over to the side when I punched him.

“Impressive,” he admired. “This is exactly the reason I would like you to join my army.”

“What makes you think I would ever agree to that?” I asked, turning my head toward Korse.

He closed his eyes as if he was bored, waving the back of his hand forward. The SCARECROW agent took the gun from my neck and returned it to the center of my back. I immediately turned my gun to Korse again.

“I would make it worth your while,” the creepy bald man continued. “Aren’t you tired of running? And wouldn’t you like to know where your sister is?”” he asked me with a coy look.

I felt the anger within me drop for a second. He must know where Krys is! I mean, that’s how he found me… And that must mean that she still is alive…

“Where is she?” I asked.

“I will take you to her if you go with me,” Korse told me warmly.

“Leya, don’t listen to him!” Frank shouted from his place on the ground. “He’s lying!”

Way to dash my hopes like that, Frank! But still…

“I can tell you that she is alive and well,” Korse continued.

“How can I know you’re telling the truth?” I asked.

“He’s not!” Gerard yelled this time.

“You will just have to trust me,” Korse replied with a smirk.

“I’m sorry, but I have to decline your offer,” I told him.

“That’s a shame. You remember what happened the last time you declined my offer?” Korse turned toward the Killjoys and raised a hand.

“No, wait!” I yelled. “Don’t kill them!”

Korse lowered his hand with a smirk.

“If I go with you…” I started, “If I join your army, will you spare their lives?”

“What the fuck, Leya? He’s never going to do that!” Frank yelled.

“Are you sure that is an even trade?” Korse questioned me.

“You want an army. You want an army that knows the area, that fights just like a Killjoy, that fights just like the enemy. That’s why you’ve been recruiting Killjoys to be a part of your army. You want the Fabulous Killjoys to become soldiers for your army, don’t you? You were going to reprogram them the same way you reprogrammed Jonah and Susanna… That’s why they’re still alive.”

“Interesting deduction,” Korse coldly replied.

“But I ruined your plan by stepping in before you could take them. And now we’re at a stalemate. So you tried to bargain me out by revealing my identity and promising me my sister. But that didn’t work, so you are trying to now bribe me with the lives of the Fabulous Killjoys.”

“Your skills at summarizing are outstanding,” Korse cut in with a chuckle.

“But I know you. You won’t spare any mercy. If I had agreed to go with you when you promised my sister, you probably would have ended up killing the Fabulous Killjoys anyway. But let’s face it; that’s not what you really want. You didn’t hunt me down and learn about my family for nothing. You need me alive. But the only way you’re taking me alive is if they come out alive tonight.”

Korse haughtily laughed. “What makes you think I need you? Look at my Draculoids, my agents; one less soldier will hardly make a dent to our force.”

I nodded. “Yeah, I suppose you’re right. But when you really get down to it, I’m holding a gun here and you’re standing defenseless before me. I can kill you at any moment. And then your army won’t be so important anymore.”

“And you will be killed just as swiftly after,” Korse replied.

“I know. That’s why if any one of those four men are killed, I’m prepared to go down myself—and I’ll be taking you down with me. But if you spare them, I will go with you. Without a fight. You have my word.”

“Interesting…” Korse remarked as he eyed me.

“Leya, don’t give up your freedom for us!” Gerard shouted. “Save yourself!”

The funny thing is that even if I wanted to save myself, I have no way to get out of this sticky situation other than through negotiation.

“You already saved me. You all did. Call this repaying a favor,” I called out to them.

“Now, let’s see… I must weigh my options: If I get you, a willing young soldier as part of my army—you do have valuable information, you know all about the Fabulous Killjoys, and after a bit of reprogramming you would do anything I’d say. However, the Fabulous Killjoys would still live. On the other hand, if I refuse the offer and exterminate the Fabulous Killjoys, you will shoot me, die, and then I would be losing soldiers instead of gaining soldiers.”

Korse was silent for a few seconds.

“I believe you have yourself a deal, Miss Novena. I will spare the Fabulous Killjoys and you will join me.”

I looked over at my friends. I know that they’re dying on the inside at seeing me do this, but soon they’ll understand…

“Leya, no!” Gerard shouted.

“Leya, don’t you fucking agree with that! I don’t care if I die!” Frank lashed out.

“He’s right! It’s not worth sacrificing yourself!” Mikey added.

“Don’t worry about us!” Ray added.

“Shall we shake on it?” Korse asked as he stretched his hand out.

“You understand that if you go back on your word, the first thing I’m going to do is send a laser through your skull?” I told Korse with a solemn tone.

“I am well-prepared for that, yes,” Korse answered with a grin.

“Then we have a deal.” I reached out and shook Korse’s hand while keeping my gun aimed at him. We let go hands, staring at each other, waiting for the other to make the first move.

There is no way I am putting this gun down until I’m sure the guys are safe.

“Get your Dracs to back off,” I said with a tilt of my head toward the guys.

“I am afraid that as long as you have that gun pointed at me, my Dracs will keep theirs pointed at the Fabulous Killjoys.”

“Then get this fucking agent off my back first!” I gritted out.

Korse nodded his head toward the agent behind me, and I felt the barrel come off my back.

“Is that better?” Korse asked me with a grin.

“I’ll feel better if he puts that gun away where I can see it,” I added with a twitch of my eyebrow.

Korse gestured for the agent to come around with his hand. The agent appeared at my side and I saw him stick the white ray gun in his pant holster.

“Good,” I remarked.

“Now how about lowering that gun of yours?” Korse asked.

“Not until those Dracs lower theirs…” I replied.

“I gave you my word—“ Korse started.

“Yeah, but your word doesn’t mean shit unless I see you keep to it.”

“If my Dracs put down their weapons, those Killjoys will fight back. And I won’t be able to keep my end of the deal…”

I stared at Korse and answered, “Fine. I’ll lower my gun.” I did so, keeping it gripped at my side.

Korse bowed his head toward the Dracs that were holding down the guys. They lowered their guns, too. “There,” Korse remarked.

The four agents by Korse’s car now had their guns aimed at the guys. I looked over at Gerard, Frank, Mikey, and Ray. They were still held down, but I knew that it wouldn’t be for long.

“Let’s go, then,” I quickly told Korse as I started walking toward his car.

“Things are so much easier when you just cooperate with us, don’t you see?” Korse asked as he sent a creepy smile to me. “No one gets hurt.”

I walked along, crunching my feet in the dirt without saying a word. I couldn’t look back, even though I heard the guys yelling after me.

This is how it has to be, so they can go on living and so they can go save Grace.

We were almost to Korse’s car when I noticed we were just passing by where the broken concrete wall and the electric fence met.

I noticed that it was still buzzing, meaning the electric current was still running through the fence, which means…

“Gah!”

I whipped around to see Mikey breaking free from his Drac.

My heart jumped as Korse also turned around with a frown. I had to do this right on the first try or else we would all be dead!

I lunged forward, grabbing onto Korse’s shoulders and pushed him toward the electric fence before any of his flunkies could grab me.

Korse struggled but I leaned all my weight against him until he fell over against the fence. I held my hands down tight on Korse’s shoulders as he started to convulse against the electrified wire.

What the—

 

 


	22. Chapter 22

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is narrated from Mikey's POV

Leya turned and started walking ahead of Korse. She had her head bent down. I don’t think she even gave us a proper look before signing her life away, as if she didn’t want to acknowledge to us how fucking crazy she was.

I don’t blame her—because we’re all pissed the fuck off.

“Fuck! No, Leya!” Frank was practically seething, his muscles flexed against the Drac’s hold on him.

“Korse, get back here and deal with us yourself!” Gerard also hollered right next to me.

I stayed calm because now that the Dracs had lowered their guns, I knew I’d be able to break out of this with little trouble.

I jerked one elbow up, almost getting my arm out of the Drac’s hold on my wrists. He bent down, just as I predicted, so I thrust my head back and crushed his nose.

“Gah!” The Drac screamed out as he lost his grip on my arms. I flung them free and sent a punch into his chest.

The other Dracs hesitated in consideration of whether they should go after me or keep hold of Gerard and the others. I didn’t let them make a decision. I kicked the Drac who had Gerard, knocking him down so Gee could escape.

“Go!” Gerard yelled as he started fighting against the other Dracs that were holding Frank and Ray.

I knew what he meant. I have to go after Korse and I can’t let Leya sacrifice her life and freedom for us.

Without blinking, I started running after them, while the fact that there were several armed agents around flew to the back of my consciousness. All I cared about was getting to Leya to take her back.

As I ran through the dirt, I could see the distance closing in, their bodies getting larger in my vision.

Almost there!

Wait. What the hell was Leya doing?! She was pushing Korse toward the—

“No!” I called out. Too quietly, I must admit. And too late.

Leya had Korse up against the electric fence, sure to seriously hurt if not kill him from the high voltage. _But she didn’t let go of him._

I wanted to scream. I wanted to be able to zip there in the blink of an eye and get her hands off of Korse. I was only 15 steps away, but it was too late—

She fell back with her arms stretched wide, as if she was doing some twisted, graceful form of a swan dive. Then she hit the ground with a solid thud. And she lay there in the dirt, still.

My heart started racing and my throat started closing up.

Fuck.

Shit.

What do I do?

Fuck!

No!

This wasn’t supposed to happen!

I closed my eyes, took in a deep breath, and opened them. I have to act, I can’t just stand here!

I continued running forward, attacking the first agent I saw, then the next, and the next one—they were all scrambling around, getting close to the bod—God, I can’t even say that in my head!

“Get down!” I heard Gerard’s voice yell from behind me. I turned around to see him, Ray, and Frank running over here with rayguns in hand. I crouched down while they shot out their lasers at the agents surrounding me.

I looked out to the side, to see a couple of agents hauling Korse’s body out away from the fence.

“They’re getting away!” I yelled. I wanted to stand up, but lasers were still going over my head.

“Gee, they’re taking Korse!” I shrieked. They can’t escape! If they’re taking Korse’s body, that must mean he’s alive, which means Leya’s…she did this all for nothing!”

Gerard looked over to the agents that were now putting Korse in the car. He hesitated before answering me, “Mikey…”

“If you won’t go after them, I will!” I said as I shot up to my feet.

“You don’t even have your gun, genius!” Gerard said as he grabbed me by the back of my jacket collar. He held my gun out in his left hand. I snatched at it and pulled away from him.

“Mikey, let them go!” Gerard yelled as he roughly grabbed my left arm. “We have to focus on Leya.”

I turned my attention from that fucking SCARECROW unit car speeding away, to see Frank and Ray kneeling down next to Leya. Her arms were still stretched out to the sides. All of the agents left over here were dead, so we were safe.

Gerard clapped a hand on my shoulder and we quickly walked over to join Frank and Ray.

“Goddamnit…” Frank muttered as he took two fingers from Leya’s throat. He looked up at me with large, desperate eyes.

I kneeled down with a gulp, getting a closer look. Leya’s eyes were open. They were dark, almost black, not the usual shining brown that they were.

“Can we…you know, save her?” Ray quietly asked.

I wasn’t sure if Ray was just asking me, or all of us, but I didn’t know how to answer that.

We were all silent for a few seconds before Frank finally said, “Fuck this, of course we can save her!”

He nudged me out of the way as he got up close to Leya’s body. He raised a fist in the air above her chest and sent it down with great force.

“Frank!” Gerard exclaimed, stealing the word from my mouth.

Leya’s entire body shook as Frank pounded her chest with his fist a few more times. He’s trying to resuscitate her heart, but…

“Fucking hell, Frank, you’re going to break her ribs!” Gerard scolded as he gripped Frank’s wrist before he could crash it down on Leya’s chest again.

“Yeah, well a few broken ribs are better than being dead!” Frank lashed out as he broke from Gerard’s grip and sent his fist crashing down one more time. “I don’t see you coming up with anything better to do!”

Gerard didn’t say anything back. Ray was quiet as he watched, too. The only sound we could hear was Frank’s fist hitting Leya’s chest.

Fuck. There has to be something we can do… Fuck, I’m supposed to be the fucking doctor here… There has to be something, there has to be something, there has to be…

As Leya’s body shook again, I noticed the power glove sticking out of her back pocket.

No…

Could it work?

“Frank, wait!” I said as he had his arm up again for another pound.

“What, Mikey?!” he said in an exasperated, breathless voice.

I reached down and took the power glove from Leya’s back pocket, slipping it onto my own hand, hooking up the wires.

“Her heart was stopped by an electrical current, right? Well, maybe if we give her a jolt of our own, it’ll start up again,” I explained.

Frank looked at me with wide eyes, the sweat on his forehead glaring at me with the lowering sun. “That sounds crazy,” he started.

“Well so does punching her in the chest about a million times!” I lashed out.

“Hey guys, relax!” Ray quickly interjected. “Mikey, try it,” he told me.

I nodded. I got closer to Leya’s body. “I have to make sure that the power glove’s current goes straight to her heart. So no judging me for what I’m about to do,” I said as a disclaimer before I lifted Leya’s shirt up to expose her chest. At least she was wearing a bra, so this wasn’t as creepy as it could have been.

I carefully placed my hand in the middle of her chest, while all the guys kept their eyes on me.

I gulped. I hope this works.

I took my shaking left hand and quickly pressed the buttons: B+B+UP+UP+DOWN+A. There’s no real explanation as to why this particular combination works—it’s kind of like any special combo in a fighting game—but as soon as I pressed the “A” button, I felt a bit of heat beneath the center of my palm, and Leya’s chest quickly heaved.

I looked to her face to see if it worked.

Her eyes were still open and dull.

“Fuck,” I muttered under my breath.

“Try it again, Mikey,” Gerard quietly told me.

I pressed the combination again and felt the warmth underneath my palm again. Leya’s chest jumped, but again—no response.

“Damn it…” I whispered.

“Just keep trying,” Frank told me as he gave me an intent look.

B+B+UP+UP+DOWN+A

Nothing.

I took my hand off her chest for a second as I tightened the glove on my hand again.

One more time…

“Come on,” I muttered out as I pressed my hand on the middle of Leya’s chest again.

B+B+UP+UP+DOWN+A

Again…NOTHING.

“Try it again,” Ray told me with a reassuring nodding of his head.

“Fuck, I shouldn’t have kept hitting her chest…” Frank started saying as he shook his head from side to side.

“No, don’t say that…” I told Frank.

I gulped. I have to do something crazy.

Usually, the combination I used is enough to stun a full-grown man for a few hours. But there is another combination—one powerful enough to kill a person instantly. And enough to send a powerful jolt through my own arm, which is why it shouldn’t be done. But a circumstance like this calls for an exception.

I took my left hand and made sure to do this correctly:

9+9+0+0+A+A+B+START

“Grr!” My whole arm flared in pain as I sharply brought it up to my chest.

“Mikey!” Gerard exclaimed as he put a hand on my shoulder.

It was like my right arm was vibrating with a heat that threatened to destroy all the nerves inside it—kind of like my arm was ripping itself from the inside out.

“I’m fine,” I gasped as things started looking a bit blurry. “Did it work?”


	23. Chapter 23

I woke up, feeling like I was weighed under a ton of sand. All my limbs felt heavy, and I could barely move. My chest felt really sore and my lips felt chapped and dried to the point of almost bleeding.

I blinked open my eyes to see a square of fluorescent light above me. I groaned—it was so bright. I moved a hand over my eyes to block the brightness—wait.

Shit! Last thing I remembered was Korse—and the guys were being held—and I made a deal—and then I tried to—

“You’re awake,” I could hear someone say.

I quickly sat up, on what appeared to be a mattress on a small cot. “What happened?! What happened to the guys?!” I frantically asked as I tried to adjust to the world spinning around me.

“Calm down! They’re here, honey. You just need to relax before you give yourself a heart attack…” When my eyes caught up with the world, I saw that it was Flora who spoke. Her brown eyes were wide as she placed her hands on my arms. She pushed down my shoulders, trying to make me lie down again.

“How can I fucking relax?!” I snapped as I took her hands off of me. “They’re—wait. You said they’re here?” I lowered my voice once I realized what she said.

“Just outside the door. We all thought you needed your rest.” Flora looked at me like I was a rabid dog about to make a sudden move, but I ignored it.

I looked around, and realized I was in the hospital ward of the dormitory building. The walls were grey and the floor was lined with linoleum, just like a normal hospital. There were three rows of small cots, just like the one I was sitting up on, and there were a few other people in here. They all appeared to be asleep.

I immediately whipped my legs over the side of the cot and stood up, feeling the cold floor beneath my bare feet. I wobbled a bit, but decided to run toward the door.

“Stellar—wait!” Flora called after me.

I ignored her and clumsily made my way to the door. I turned the doorknob and pushed the door open to see Gerard, Ray, Frank, and Mikey huddled together on a small, brown plastic bench in the hallway. They looked terrible, with bags under their eyes, pale faces, and solemn jaws.

I breathed a sigh of relief as I closed the door behind me. They were here. They were alive.

“Leya?” Gerard asked as he quickly looked up through his scarlet fringe. The rest of the guys looked up and followed suit, their dead faces brightening up.

Gerard leaped up off the seat and took me into his arms, hugging me tightly. He didn’t have his jacket on anymore, and his arms were cold. I looked up at his face and could see that his eyes were moist.

“Hi, Gerard,” I said with a light laugh.

The rest of the guys came and hugged around us, creating a group hug within a circle of smiles.

“Don’t you ever do something that fucking stupid again!” Frank gently scolded as he ruffled up my hair.

“We’re so glad you’re alive!” Ray told me excitedly.

Mikey was quiet, but he was smiling wide.

Once they all let go, I finally caught my breath and asked, “What happened? The last thing I remember is walking with Korse to his car…”

“You pushed him into the electric fence, electrocuting him,” Gerard said with a dark look. “The current must have passed through him to you, because then you were electrocuted, too.”

“So…did I kill him?” I cautiously asked.

“I don’t know. The agents took him away before we could get to you. And anyway, all we were concerned about at the time was making sure we could save you,” Gerard continued.

“Was I…” I started.

“Your heart wasn’t beating,” Mikey said with a look toward the floor. He had his arms crossed. “We thought you were gone for a good minute.”

Gone…as in dead?

“How did I…come back?” I hesitantly asked.

“It was all thanks to Mikey. He used the power glove on you,” Gerard answered with a warm look toward his brother.

“The power glove?” I repeated as I looked over at Mikey.

Mikey tilted his head bashfully as he looked over at me. “Remember when I told you that you can use the power glove to stun your enemies?” I nodded. “Well, it does that by sending out electric shocks. I hoped that since your heart was stopped by an electric current, maybe it could be jumpstarted the same way.”

I put a hand to the middle of my chest. So that’s why it felt so sore…

“It was a really good thing you decided to keep that in your back pocket,” Frank added.

“It was a good thing you guys noticed… Thank you, guys,” I told them as I kept my hand over my chest. “Really. How many times have I been saved by you?”

“Let’s just call it even between us, so no one has to almost die anymore,” Mikey said with a smile. His hazel eyes didn’t look so tired anymore.

“You can also thank Frank for punching your chest ten times,” Ray added with a chuckle as he clapped a hand on Frank’s shoulder.

Oh, maybe that was why it hurt…

“That was before we thought of the whole power glove thing!” Frank said with an embarrassed look downward as he put his hands into his front pockets. “I didn’t know what else to do…”

I smiled at Frank. “You were trying to save me. There’s no need to feel guilty about that.”

“Well…good!” he answered with a giggle as he scratched his head.

“That was some insane shit you did for us,” Gerard started, with his arms crossed. He looked at me with narrowed eyes. “You literally died to save us!”

I looked down. “I’m sorry. But… I couldn’t just let you guys get taken away or killed like that!”

“Thank you for that,” Ray told me with a warm look. “I’m not sure what would have happened to us if you hadn’t interfered.”

The others gave Ray a mortified look. He was the first one to actually be thankful for my idiocy.

“It was nothing, Ray,” I said with a bashful smile.

“Hey, just for the record… was that whole ‘fry Korse’ thing planned? Because that was fucking awesome!” Frank crowed. “Well—until you were dead for like a minute…”

I giggled. “Let’s just say that there was no way I was letting him take me to Battery City alive.”

“So all the negotiation about becoming a part of his army… that was fake?” Gerard asked with an arched eyebrow.

“Of course it was!” I replied.

“I knew it the whole time…” Mikey commented with a smug look toward his older brother.

Gerard smiled at me. “Good. You worried me for a second, there.”

I smiled back.

“How are you feeling?” Ray asked me with a kind look as he moved forward.

I blinked. “I feel fine…” I think I did, anyway.

“You sure? Because you were out for like twelve hours. After Mikey revived you, you passed out right away. We didn’t know if you were gonna make it…” he continued.

“You mean, I’ve been asleep for twelve hours?!” I asked.

“Not asleep. Unconscious. Big difference,” Frank said with a chuckle.

I could see the stress growing in Gerard’s eyes. “Are you sure you’re alright? You’ve had a lot of trauma; maybe you should rest more,” he told me.

“I feel fine!” I protested. “Besides, I don’t want to stay in there with the others… It’s not exactly an uplifting atmosphere to be in, if you know what I mean…”

Gerard rubbed the back of his neck. “I guess I do…” He started to yawn, covering his mouth with his hand.

“You guys, on the other hand, look like you could all use a rest,” I remarked. “Don’t tell me you stayed up this whole time…”

“We wanted to be here when you woke up,” Ray told me with a smile.

I smiled. Aw, these guys…

“Mikey took a small nap, though,” Frank chided with a laugh.

Mikey raised his eyebrows at Frank. “I didn’t mean to!” he explained as he turned to me with a guilty look on his face.

I cracked a smile at this. “Don’t even worry about it! Geeze, what time is it anyway?”

“3:47 am,” Gerard remarked as he looked up at a nearby clock mounted on the wall.

My eyes widened. “You guys definitely should get some rest, then!”

Gerard laughed at this.

“You all should be getting rest, you included, Miss Stellar.” It was Flora, who had entered the hallway. Now that I got a good look at her, her face was a little swollen and bruised. I just remembered how I had hit her in the face with her own ray gun earlier and felt a wave of guilt wash over me.

“Listen, Flora—“ I started.

“You are just as hard-headed as the rest of these fools, aren’t you?!” Flora sighed.

“Hey…” Frank remarked with a tilt of his head.

“Your heart stopped beating, Stellar. And who knows how many electric volts went into it to bring you back! Do you realize how important it is that you don’t put any more stress on your body?” Flora had her arms crossed and a stern, cold look in her eyes.

I looked down, feeling guilty. I guess the reality of the situation just hadn’t actually hit me.

“I just…I don’t want to be in there,” I carefully and calmly told Flora.

“What do you mean?” she questioned.

“I’ll rest—really, I will—I just can’t—” I started.

“We’ll make sure she gets rest,” Gerard cut in.

Flora nodded her head slowly. “Okay, then… You guys already have your room sorted. Stellar, I can fix up a room for you, if you’d like.”

“Oh, that’s alright, Flora—you’ve helped us out so much today, thank you,” I said. “Also, you can call me Leya now.”

“Leya, is that your real name?” she questioned.

“Yeah,” I answered. “Korse already knew who I was, and now…there’s no point in keeping it a secret anymore.”

Flora smiled. “Well, go on back in and get your shoes, unless you’d like to be barefoot for the rest of the night.”

I looked down at my feet. “Oh yeah…” I muttered. “Will you guys wait for me?” I asked as I turned around to Gerard, Frank, Ray, and Mikey.

“Do you really need to ask?” Ray told me with a bent eyebrow.

I laughed. “No, I guess I don’t.” I turned and followed Flora into the ward, doing my best not to wobble. I don’t know if it’s just because I was out for so long, but it was like my legs weren’t fully awake.

As I got out with my shoes in hand, the guys were standing right outside in the hallway, waiting.

“Ready to go?” Gerard asked with a warm smile.

“Yeah,” I nodded as I joined my friends.

Once we had walked to the room Flora had set up for the guys, Frank remarked, “I’m kind of excited about sleeping in an actual bed for once.” He was stretching out his arms and yawning.

Gerard opened the door and the rest of us followed into the small room. A lantern was set up at the wall, which Gerard turned on by turning a small spoke on the side of it. Oil lamps, eh?

There were two sets of bunk beds, so four beds altogether. Which begs the question…where am I sleeping?

“I call top bunk!” Ray nearly shouted as he raised his hand up high.

“Shh!” Mikey directed at his curly-haired friend with a skinny finger placed over his lips. “Ray, people are sleeping!” he whispered.

“Calling top bunk,” Ray whispered in a low voice this time.

Frank giggled. “What the hell, Ray? You’re always calling shit first.”

“Well, Leya’s not sleeping on the floor, that’s for sure…” Gerard started.

“I’ll sleep on the floor, then,” Frank nonchalantly stated.

“Are you sure? I mean, you were just saying how excited you were to be sleeping in an actual bed…” I started.

“It doesn’t mean that much to me,” Frank said with a wave away of his hand.

I put my hands on my hips. “Come on, Frank. You’re not sleeping on the floor.”

“You know what? I bet Flora won’t mind if we take over another empty room. That way everyone will have a bed,” Gerard announced.

“I’m still calling top bunk,” Ray called out.

Everyone laughed.

“So who’s coming with me to another room?” Gerard asked, looking at each of us with bright eyes.

No one answered.

“Come on, guys…you’re not gonna make me go by myself, are you?” Gerard complained as he crossed his arms over his chest.

Frank laughed. “Mikey, go keep your brother company in case the boogeyman decides to make a surprise appearance.”

Mikey shrugged. “Okay…”

“Don’t sound so enthusiastic about it, Mikey…” Gerard bitterly muttered.

“Whoo…I get to share a room with you for about the millionth time in my life. So psyched,” Mikey said with a straight face.

“I’m sure he’s just tired. You saw how the poor kid was trying so hard not to nod off a few hours ago,” Frank interjected with a small laugh.

“Yeah, tired. That’s it,” Mikey said, his lips forming into a closed-mouth smile.

Gerard cracked a smirk. “Come on, baby bro. Let’s get some rest. See you guys in the morning—well, later morning.”

With that, Gerard and Mikey left down the hall.

“And then there were three…” Frank remarked.

“I’m taking this top bunk,” Ray said as he started climbing the small ladder to the top bunk on the right side of the room. The bed frames were made of steel, so when Ray jumped right onto the mattress, it stood ground.

“So are you taking the other top bunk?” Frank asked as he turned to me.

“Nah, it’s okay. I’m too lazy to climb. You can have it,” I said.

“Oh, that’s alright. I don’t like top bunks,” he answered me.

“Why?” I asked.

“’Cause he’s afraid of heights!” Ray interrupted with a chuckle.

“Shut the fuck up, Ray!” Frank argued.

I giggled. “A lot of people are scared of heights, it’s no big deal.”

“I’m not scared of heights! I just like feeling safe and secure when I sleep. I don’t want to break my neck ‘cause I accidentally roll off,” Frank replied with a bit of a glare.

I laughed.

“What?” Frank asked.

“It’s just… you’re pretty reckless about everything else, yet you’re scared of sleeping in a bunk bed.”

“Shut up,” Frank answered as he pushed my shoulder.

He decided to take the bed that was underneath Ray’s bunk and I took the bed opposite. It felt like a luxury to be sleeping on a real mattress with a warm, quilted blanket. I snuggled up on my bed, feeling much more comfortable and willing to go to sleep than I had in weeks.

“Good night, Leya. Good night, Frank,” Ray sleepily told us.

“Good night Ray,” Frank and I said in unison.

“Good night, Frank,” I said.

“Sweet dreams, Leya,” Frank replied.

*****

We didn’t wake up until well into the late morning. Ray was the first one to get up, I realized, because when I woke up and looked around me, only Frank was still asleep in his bed and Ray had disappeared.

I yawned and snuggled into my blanket again. I can’t remember the last time I’d ever had this good of a sleep or been able to wake up feeling completely safe. I looked over at Frank. He had his hands crossed over his chest with a pout on his lips. I wonder how long it’s been since he had a good sleep, too.

In little over fifteen minutes, someone knocked on the door. I flipped over the thin, warm blanket I was under and jumped off the bed to open the door. It was Ray, Mikey, and Gerard. They were all dressed with even their jackets on.

“Good morning!” Ray cheerily announced.

“Morning,” I said in a quiet voice, trying not to wake up Frank.

Gerard, Ray and Mikey all peered inside to look at the still-sleeping Frank.

“So how are you feeling?” Gerard asked me with kind eyes.

“I feel great,” I replied. “What time is it?”

“Just past eleven o’clock,” Mikey told me.

“You mean it hasn’t even been eight hours since we went to sleep?” I questioned with raised eyebrows. It felt like I’d been asleep for at least ten. “And you guys got up early, too!”

“Guess we just got used to getting up early,” Gerard answered with a shrug. “Well, all of us except Frank…”

Frank started stirring at that moment, groaning as he turned on his side.

“You guys should let him sleep more,” I said with a small laugh. “So what’s up?”

Their smiles dropped. “There’s going to be a funeral in about twenty minutes.”

“A funeral?” I asked, my own smile dropping, too.

“Some of the Killjoys that backed us up didn’t make it,” Ray said while looking down, cradling his hands together.

“Oh…” I replied as I looked at the floor. I had forgotten about that. It must have happened when Korse set his agents to attack them.

I looked up. “I’d like to go,” I finally said.

“You would?” Gerard asked in surprise. “We understand if you don’t go. I know things like this are a bit…difficult to handle.”

“No, it’s fine. Really, I want to go,” I said with a smile.

“Okay, then. Meet us outside when you’re ready,” Gerard told me with a gentle smirk. Mikey and Ray waved as they walked down the corridor.

I had been standing at the door while I processed it. I can’t believe some of those Killjoys actually died. And for what?

Before I knew it, warm tears had started flowing out from my eyes.

“Oh,” I exclaimed out loud as I quickly wiped them away.

“You okay?” Frank asked. I looked over to see him sitting up on his bed with his hands folded over his knees. He was looking at me with those large, concerned puppy dog eyes.

I breathed out a laugh. “Seriously, you’re always there to see me cry.” I continued wiping away at my spontaneous tears, sniffing away.

“Those men and women died with honor. They were protecting their home, their family, their friends. They knew the risks going in,” Frank told me.

I went to sit over on my own bed, looking down at my knees. The jeans I was wearing were just at the point of shredding right above my kneecaps, the bloodstains still there from over a week ago.

“I know… It’s just…” I exhaled. “I wish no one had to ever get hurt. It’s so stupid…”

I could hear Frank move in his bed, and I looked up. He had stood up, and it was then that I noticed he had tattoos on his ankles as his pants were pushed up a bit.

He kept a steady, calm look at me. “Whatever you do, don’t blame yourself for anything. There was nothing we could have done that would have made a difference. Not a positive difference, anyway.” He walked forward over to me and put a hand on my shoulder.

“If we weren’t lucky, we might have been burying you today, too,” Frank quietly told me.

I shuddered at the thought.

“Hey,” Frank continued as he looked me right in the eye. “When you decided to take down Korse, did you know what you were getting yourself into? Were you prepared to die?”

I shifted my eyes to the side. “Well…yeah, I guess I figured I might die. But I cared more about saving you guys.”

“Just like the Killjoys that died trying to back us up. Do you understand now? They were prepared to die. They had been in the game for a while. They knew what they were risking.” Frank took his hand off my shoulder as he gave me a half smile, the scar on his cheek wrinkling. It was another reminder of a selfless sacrifice.

“Well, it doesn’t make it any better.” I sighed. I reached to the ground to pick up my shoes and the new socks Flora had given me. I started putting them on. “But the least I can do is pay my respects.”

“Okay then…” Frank said before he started yawning. He sat back down on his bed, scratching his head.

Once I finished putting on those shoes, I started smoothing out my bedhead of hair while Frank started lacing up his boots. He decided to leave his vest on his bed.

“Good thing we’re already wearing black, huh?” he said with a weak laugh. I could tell he was pained about this, too.

I looked down at my own black t-shirt. “Yeah.”

The funeral took place just outside the Spiritual Center. The cemetery was a dirt lot with a small perimeter made of the fence that divided this space from the energy troughs. Inside the lot were already a bunch of stone markers, trinkets, and various items used as stoneheads for the deceased.

The sun burned the ground, in which five fresh plots of dirt were filled. Axel and a few others went to work burying Vixen, Turnpike, Gretel, Hatchet, and Moonshine. Around 40 of the residents came out to pay their respects. A few people even gave eulogies for each of them. Each eulogy gave us something to smile about, to celebrate the five Killjoys’ lives instead of mourn their deaths.

At the end of the service, everyone was to walk by the plots, dropping dirt or carnations made out of crumpled tissue paper. Two young girls, about 9 or 10 years old, were passing them out. They both had face paint, symbols of the sun, stars and moon across their cheeks. After I picked up one light blue tissue flower, I followed Gerard and the others in line as we came around the five dirt mounds. We tossed our flowers onto the dirt.

I looked over and noticed that Frank made the sign of the cross over his chest after he tossed his flower. I thought he wasn’t religious… But I didn’t say anything. We moved along down the line to the entrance of the dirt lot, where Killjoys were congregating and speaking with each other.

And then, it hit me.

The guys were too busy talking to notice me as I went back into the cemetery. I came back around to those 2 small girls as soon as the last few people were paying their respects.

“Can I have three more flowers?” I asked.

“Mmhmm,” one of them answered as she handed me three puny, tissue paper carnations. One was dark blue, one was white, and the other was a pale, pastel pink. I walked through the lot, looking for a relatively empty space of dirt to do this.

One square away from the west barrier of the lot, I made three mounds of dirt with my bare hands. My hands became completely covered in dirt, but I didn’t care. I placed a flower on top of each one. I bent down to my knees, clasped my hands together, and for the first time in over 2 years, I began to pray.

“I don’t know if you guys can hear me. I don’t know if you guys are in heaven or…wherever else you go, but I hope you’re at peace.” I paused. “Nothing will ever rectify the fact that you guys died to save me. You have no idea how much I wish that I could turn back time, that I wish I could have done something else but just stand there. But it was because of you guys that I made it out of there alive.

“I’m in good hands now, thanks to you. And I was able to face Korse and almost beat him. I’m not sure—hell, I know for sure that I wouldn’t have been able to do that two weeks ago.” I shifted a bit in my place. “I miss you guys. So much. Not a day goes by where I don’t think about you and wonder what you would think of me now. I’ll never stop trying to make you guys proud. ‘Til we meet again…”

I wiped my tears away from my cheeks as I stood up. This was the first time I’d really had any time to give Jax, Diamondback, and Sniper the burial they deserved. I feel a little bit more at peace now.

I walked down the path to the entrance of the lot, where the guys were waiting for me.

“You okay?” Gerard asked me with a gentle look in his eyes.

“Yeah,” I said with a smile, hoping my tears had mostly dried by now.

“Stellar—I mean, Leya!” It was Ronnie. She had come skipping up to me, and then embraced me in a fierce hold.

My eyes widened at this gesture, but it was nice.

“I’m so glad you’re okay! My mom told me all about what happened, and well…You’re alive!”

“Yeah, I am,” I giggled. “So your mom told you about my real name, too?”

“Yeah. And no offense, but Leya is a much prettier name than Stellar,” Ronnie told me with a wink.

I laughed in return, but just remembered. “How’s your brother? Is he—“

“Caelan’s going to be fine,” Ronnie replied. “He had a concussion, but the swelling’s gone down. That boy’s so hard-headed—literally—so I knew he’d survive.”

I smiled in response.

“So what’s your plan now?” Ronnie asked as she turned to the guys.

“Oh, well…” Gerard started uncomfortably.

“We’re still figuring that out right now,” Mikey finished with a smirk. He had his hand up over his eyes to shield the sun.

“Well, with Korse out of the way, that should make getting into Battery City a little easier, right?” Ronnie questioned.

“Well…we still have to come up with a good gameplan. There’s no telling how much the defense has changed regarding Battery City,” Frank remarked.

“Exactly! You shouldn’t take any chances, even if Korse is out of the game for now.” It was Axel who said this, his huge, sinewy arms cradled over his chest.

“Our best option is to get to Battery City at night,” Mikey added. “But considering that all of SCARECROW possibly knows what went down, it’s not gonna be so easy to get through all the Zones.”

“We can get through anything, Mikey,” Frank told his blonde friend with a confident smirk.

Mikey sighed as he opened his mouth to respond.

I couldn’t hear what he said because Ronnie nudged me at the same moment. “Hey, I was supposed to do this yesterday, but I want to show you your new room in the dormitory. And I have some clothes you can have, too.”

I raised my eyebrows in surprise. I almost forgot I was going to be living here. I looked over at the guys.

“It’s alright. Go ahead and get yourself settled in. You need a bit of normalcy after everything that happened,” Gerard told me.

“Yeah, I suppose,” I said with a shrug.

“Good! Follow me!” Ronnie said as she pulled me along with her to the dormitory.

I got a room to myself, just two doors down from where Ronnie was staying with her roommate, Sarah. Sarah was a shy, brown-haired 18 year old girl. Every time I saw her she had a dusty old book in her hands. I believe the only words she uttered out of her mouth to me were “mmm” as she nodded her head when Ronnie introduced me.

Ronnie gave me a lime green t-shirt that had prints of yellow flowers on it. She also gave me a pair of blue jean shorts. It was a refreshing change from my dirt, blood, and ethanol-soaked jeans. Of course, the bandage on my right knee was clearly visible and my blood had seeped through once again.

“Good, my clothes fit you!” Ronnie remarked with a grin.

“Thanks,” I told her. “I’m not sure what to do with my old clothes. They can’t even be used as rags, that’s how filthy they are,” I joked.

“Eh, don’t worry about it,” Ronnie answered with a wave of her hand. “I wanted you to get settled in before you had to send the guys off.”

“Send the guys off?” I echoed.

Ronnie’s face dropped. “Oh…didn’t you know? They said they would leave as soon as the funeral ended.”

“Oh…” I remarked.

“Well…I don’t want to keep them waiting any longer. They’ve been waiting to say goodbye to you,” Ronnie told me with a crooked smile.

She pulled me along until we came to the dirt parking lot next to the entrance of Sweetwater.

The guys were currently shutting the doors of the Trans-Am while talking to Axel and a couple other older Killjoys.

“I’ll meet you in a bit,” Ronnie told me before skipping back toward the dormitory.

I walked toward the car, overhearing Ray and Frank arguing.

“No, Toro, I told you—give me the double holster!” Frank reached around Ray’s arm, but Ray pulled away.

“Come and get it then,” Ray responded with a smirk as he raised up his arm to dangle the double holster.

“Very fucking funny,” Frank muttered with a glare.

“Come on, Frank!” Ray taunted.

“You know for a fact I can jump for that shit, right?” Frank menacingly challenged as he started bending his knees to launch himself.

I cleared my throat at that moment to stop the fighting.

“Oh, Leya’s here!” Mikey announced as he turned around next to the trunk of the Trans-Am. He had sunglasses on again.

“Hey, where’d you get the shades?” I asked with a laugh.

“Some kid gave them to me,” he said with a giggle.

“You let a kid give their sunglasses to you?!” I asked.

Mikey shrugged. “Well, I mean, they seemed like they were really happy to…” His mouth was curved in an awkward pout.

“Mikey’s not the only one with new gear,” Frank cut in. “Check it out!” He flexed his arms out to the side to show off some new kind of equipment that was on his left arm. It was like a sleeve that was strapped all the way to his shoulder. He also had some kind of shoulder plate armor attached to it.

“What is that?” I asked.

“Super awesome, strength-enhancing sleeve and shoulder plates of death,” Frank replied as he crossed his arms.

“…or what we like to call an arm brace,” Gerard remarked with a smirk as he came walking toward us.

Frank’s grin was replaced with a resentful look.

“Hey…I’m just sayin…” Gerard said as he backed away with a wide smile.

“Does your arm feel better?” I asked Frank.

He turned back to me. “Yeah…” He scratched his head. “I hate to admit it, but having this thing on makes it a lot easier to move around without it hurting.”

“Good,” I replied with a smile.

“Looks like you got a whole new wardrobe, too,” Ray remarked as he gestured to my new clothes.

“Yeah, Ronnie gave them to me,” I said as I looked down at my t-shirt and shorts.

“Hey…it looks like you have to get your knee bandaged again…” Mikey started as he pointed to my bloody knee.

I laughed, “Mikey, take one day off from being the doctor!”

He looked down with a sheepish smile.

It was quiet for a few seconds between the five of us.

Gerard was the first to speak. “We’re going to head out to Battery City now.”

All the guys then looked at me with cautious eyes.

“Okay,” I answered with an exhale.

Gerard narrowed his eyes in a skeptical expression. “Okay?”

“Yeah, it’s okay. It’s about time,” I answered with a nod.

“You’re not going to insist that you tag along?” Frank asked with wide eyes.

I laughed. “No, really. You guys should go. Besides, you worked so hard to save me. It’s the least I could do to stay out of danger for a little while.”

“You sure?” Gerard questioned.

“Yeah, I’m sure. Besides, I think I’d just get in the way of saving Grace.

“That’s not true,” Mikey told me with a serious look.

I looked down, feeling bashful. “Well, you’re gonna need that extra seat in the car to bring her back.”

“Get over here then,” Gerard told me with a smile as he opened up his arms.

I smiled and went to give him a hug. Ray, Mikey, and Frank also encircled us in a group hug.

“You know, I hate to sound cliché, but this reminds me of that one movie, The Wizard of Oz,” I said with tears in my eyes as we were in the group huddle. “You know, how Dorothy had to say goodbye to all her friends that helped her get to the Emerald City.”

Mikey giggled, “Ray’s the tin man!”

“Why am I the tin man?!” Ray exclaimed.

“Because you’re the sweetest,” I told Ray with a smile.

“And what about the cowardly lion?” Frank asked with a snort.

“He wasn’t cowardly, he was very brave. You all are,” I answered.

“And the Scarecrow?” Gerard questioned.

I froze at the irony. “The Scarecrow…” I snorted. “Well, he sure isn’t like the scarecrows we’re used to. He’s a friend, he’s loyal, he rescues Dorothy… I feel like you all make up my own Scarecrow.”

“Well, how about that?” Gerard remarked with a laugh.

“Yeah, the only difference between me and Dorothy is that when I wake up, this all won’t have been just a dream. You’ll all be gone.” I blinked my eyes, trying not to cry. None of the guys said anything, but kept their heads down like me.

“You’ll see us again one day, Leya,” Gerard told me.

“Yeah!” Mikey chirped. “There’s no way we’ll just leave you here and never see you again.”

“Maybe when we get Grace we can come back and visit you. I mean, if you want to be around a bunch of smelly guys that bad…” Ray joked with a grin.

I smiled. “I would like that.”

“You guys almost ready to leave?” It was one of the middle-aged Killjoys that asked. “We gotta start clearing that debris and close the entrance before anyone else decides they want to tangle with Sweetwater.”

“Yeah, in a minute,” Gerard answered with straight face. “Take care of yourself,” he told me as he came forward and embraced me. I held onto him tight as well. “I know you can, already,” he continued with a wink at me as he pulled away.

“I will,” I answered, keeping my tears inside.

Next was Ray. He came forward and bent down to hug me. He was so tall compared to me.

“I’m going to miss you, Ray!” I told him. “You’re the only one that doesn’t make fun of me.”

“I’ll miss you, too, grease monkey! It was nice having someone sane around for a while,” he said with a chuckle. We all laughed a bit at this.

He pulled away and next was Mikey.

“Mikey, please take those glasses off so I can see your lovely face one more time,” I told him with my hands on my hips.

“Fine,” he said with a sigh as he took the shades off. I was surprised to see that his eyes had watered. A lot.

My face dropped. Mikey…

He came forward and outstretched his arms for me. I walked close to him and wrapped my arms around his skinny frame. He held me back—he had a strong hug for someone so scrawny.

I looked up at him from his chest level. His skinny nose was rosy at the edge and his eyes were shining with tears. That was when I realized that I had also started crying.

Mikey gently shook my back as he whispered, “I’m gonna miss you, Princess Leya.”

I smiled despite my tears. “I’m gonna miss you more, Kobra Kid.”

He squeezed me again and said, “You better make sure you don’t get hurt out there. First sign of trouble and you know I’m gonna be there to fix you. Got that?”

I smiled while nodding. “Promise?”

“I promise,” he said with a smile. And then he let me go.

I wiped my eyes as I turned around and saw Frank with his hands crossed behind him.

Gosh, Frank…

We both just stared at each other for what must have been about twenty seconds.

He smirked at me, saying, “Don’t expect me to say anything corny.”

I laughed. “I wouldn’t.”

I continued to stare at him, seeing his brightness fade as his eyes dropped. I walked forward a bit, not wanting to initiate the goodbye. Because then that would mean I wouldn’t see him again for an indefinite amount of time, and well…I don’t know if I’m ready for that yet.

He sighed. “Geeze. Why’d you have to go and make me all sentimental?”

I chuckled, my throat becoming choked now.

“Oh, come on! It’s okay if you cry for Mikey, but don’t you dare cry for me!” Frank was still looking at me with those big, concerned eyes, making that impossible.

I looked down, breathing out. Still not able to say anything. When I looked back up, I saw that Frank had come closer to me, so I only had to look up a little to see his face near mine. Drops of water had appeared at the corners of his eyes.

That was it.

I couldn’t hold it in anymore.

The tears rushed out, endlessly, it felt. I put a hand up over my eyes, trying to stop it. I felt a hand come over it and saw Frank take it away, coming closer to hug me.

I started to sob into his shoulder. I could hear him sniffling, too. He had one hand cradling the back of my head and the other around my back. I kept my hands around his back, too, holding on tight. I don’t want to let go.

As I looked over at him, I couldn’t even tell whose dark hair I was looking through to see his sad face.

He put his head onto my left shoulder. I could feel his tears trickle down into my clavicle.

“Gosh…what do I say to you?” I asked in a whisper.

“Whatever you do, don’t say goodbye,” Frank whispered back. “Because this isn’t the end. You’ll see us again.”

We partially released each other. He looked down at me. “Leya, you’re a special girl. Hell, you’re one of the coolest, craziest chicks I’ve ever met,” he giggled. “Keep running. Keep living. You’re the future, you know. Keep on singing. They’ll never be able to take that from you.”

I nodded my head. “Thank you, Frank. For everything. You’ve always been there to save me every time I needed it. In more ways than one.”

They all have.

I looked back at the guys. Mikey was looking down with his arms across his chest. Gerard and Ray were looking over at me and Frank; their eyes were sad.

“You’re not alone, Leya. You’re going to find your sister. And even when you find yourself in the desert by yourself, you’ll never be alone because we’ll always be with you in here.” Frank pointed at my chest. I smiled.

“Fuck, that was really corny,” he groaned.

I laughed. “I like corny.” I smiled up at him. He was finally smiling for real, too. “Be careful out there, Frank. If anything were to happen to you, to any of you…”

“We’ll be okay. Killjoys never die, right?” He giggled.

I looked down. “I mean it. If you let something happen to you, I won’t be able to live with myself.”

Frank smiled. “We won’t. After all, you and Gerard still have to finish that song. I’m gonna want to hear a solo from you!”

“You will,” I replied with a smile.

“You guys ready to leave yet?” one of the Killjoys hollered from the nearby entrance.

Shit.

This is it.

I looked back at Frank and hugged him just one more time, the tears gushing out again. “What am I going to do without you guys?” I asked in a shuddering whisper.

“You’ll make it,” he told me as he squeezed my back. I let him go after giving him a kiss on his unscarred cheek.

I turned to the other Killjoys. Damn it. I got to say goodbye again.

I ran back to them, first Mikey. I think I scared him with the fervor of my hug, because he just stood there for a second before hugging back. I reached up and kissed him on the cheek, too.

He made a nerdy giggle as his cheeks became rosy. “This is just like when Princess Leia gave Luke a kiss for good luck before they went to destroy the Death Star.”

I smiled wide. This kid…

“Mikey, you big nerd… You’re my only hope!” I told him.

He giggled, his face still blushing. But I was glad to see him smiling. That was my favorite face of his.

I went over to Ray and went on my tippy toes to kiss him on the cheek, too. “Teach me to play on guitar when you get back,” I told him.

“Will do!” he replied with a wide grin.

I turned to Gerard again. He was smiling down at me. It all came full circle now; he was the one that had rescued me. The first kind face I saw, that day that feels so long ago now. His red hair was glowing in the bright sun, almost angelic-like.

“Do I get a kiss, too?” he asked with a cheeky smile. He was a joker, alright.

“Of course, Gerard,” I told him as I came close to him, reaching up to kiss his cheek. Except it ended up on the corner of his mouth. I blushed and looked away quickly out of feeling awkward. I could hear him giggling.

“I have a feeling one day they’re going to make stories about Princess Leya, the Killjoy,” he told me.

“Why would they ever make stories about me? You’re the hero…” I told him with a raised eyebrow.

“I’m no hero. I’m just… just a man. A man trying to make this ugly world a beautiful place. No, this world is beautiful. I’m just trying to make everyone see it.”

“It’s a shame we never got to finish writing that song,” I said with a shake of my head.

Gerard smirked at me. “We will one day, don’t you worry.” His eyes shone green in the sunlight as he grinned widely.”

“Of course we will.” I paused. “Thank you, Gerard.”

“For what?” he asked.

“You saved me. You all did. I’ll never forget it.” I smiled as I wiped the tears from my face.

It was time for them to go.

As I walked back, I had to pass Frank again. This time, I smiled as I put a hand on his shoulder. He reached over and ruffled my hair up for one last time. I laughed and I kept walking.

The guys then got into the car as I stood my distance, watching. Gerard revved the engine and the stereo started playing some harsh sounding punk rock.

As they pulled out of the dirt lot, a thought occurred to me: what’s going to happen in a week? In two weeks? A month? Will they really come back or am I just going to be one of the hundreds of tales that they make? Will I be someone to remember?

Without putting too much thought into it, I hollered out “Remember me!”

I saw 4 arms stick out of the Trans-Am with thumb-up symbols in the air.

I laughed at this.

The graffitied Trans-Am made its way to the highway, and left a cloud of dust in its wake. The Fabulous Killjoys sped along until I lost sight of them on that black and yellow strip of road, heading out to save Grace.

The only thing left to do now is wait.

 

 

 

 

_...to be continued in["When All the Lights Go Out"](http://archiveofourown.org/works/7841734)_


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